ROME, March 27 (Xinhua) -- A proposal to automatically assign newborns only their mother's surname has reignited debate in Italy.

Senator Dario Franceschini, a former culture minister and member of the center-left Democratic Party (PD), put forward the proposal earlier this week in a post on social media platform X. Franceschini described the measure as a way to correct what he called a "centuries-old injustice."

"Rather than creating endless complications with double surnames - and after centuries of children taking their father's surname - let's establish that under the new law, they would take only their mother's surname," he wrote.

In 2022, Italy's Constitutional Court ruled that automatically assigning the father's surname to newborns was unconstitutional. It affirmed that parents should have the right to give their children both surnames. In cases of disagreement, the court stipulated that children must take both. However, that decision has yet to be translated into law, and the current parliament is working on legislation to implement the ruling.

Franceschini's call to go further by prioritizing the mother's surname has drawn mixed reactions.

Several politicians, particularly female lawmakers, welcomed the proposal. Senator Valeria Valente said that the fact it came from a male colleague made it a "courageous innovation." Some others, however, remained silent or dismissed the matter as not a pressing priority.

Meanwhile, four bills aimed at implementing the Constitutional Court's 2022 decision are currently under discussion in the Senate's Justice Committee. The committee's chairperson Giulia Bongiorno did not reject Franceschini's proposal outright but stressed the importance of "finding a balanced solution that does not render either parent invisible," according to Italian news agency Ansa. Enditem

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