Surrogacy, sex reassignment surgery punishable in Saudi Arabia

Violators will be jailed for up to five years or fined $1.3 million, says public prosecution

Surrogacy, improper in vitro fertilisation and unauthorised gender reassignment measures are all punishable by law, announced the Saudi Arab's public prosecution on its official Twitter account.

According to Arab News, perpetrators of these crimes will face fines of between SR200,000 ($53,300) and SR500,000 or up to five years in prison, in addition to having their operating or medical licences revoked.

Improper in vitro fertilisation includes sperm injection from ex-husbands or donors other than spouses.



The provisions were made in accordance with Saudi laws pertaining to fertilisation, utero-fetal and infertility treatment.
The public prosecution also warned against environmental crimes, such as bringing hazardous, poisonous or radioactive waste into the kingdom.

Authorities have stipulated that companies in charge of producing, processing, storing or recycling hazardous material are obliged to dispose of such forms of waste in accordance with environmental regulations.



Violators will be jailed for up to five years or fined SR5 million ($1.3 million). In addition, their plants will be temporarily closed or their vessels temporarily confiscated for up to 90 days. Repeat offenders will incur double the penalties.

Moreover, violators will incur the costs of removing the waste and repairing the damage caused.

The story originally appeared in Arab News