A dog rests in front of the parents house of Thai surrogate mother Pattaramon Chanbua, where she used to work, on August 7, 2014 in Bangkok, Thailand. David and Wendy Farnell have made international headlines for abandoning their disabled infant son, Gammy, in Thailand with his surrogate mother, Pattaramon Chanbua. Gammy’s twin sister lives with the Farnells at their home in Bunbury, Western Australia. The couple have denied abandoning their son on a recent television interview in Australia. (Photo by Borja Sanchez-Trillo/Getty Images)

Given the recent events in Thailand, this should come as no surprise:

Thailand’s military government gave preliminary approval for a draft law to make commercial surrogacy a criminal offence, following a spate of dramatic surrogacy scandals in the past two weeks. The case of an Australian couple accused of abandoning their son, who has Down’s syndrome, with his Thai surrogate mother unleashed an international outcry over a business that rights groups say preys on poor and vulnerable women in countries such as India and Thailand.

“The NCPO has approved a surrogacy draft law,” Pattamaporn Rattanadilok na Phuket, a spokeswoman for the military government, officially known as the National Council for Peace and Order, told reporters. “We will punish through criminal law those who practise and are involved in commercial surrogacy,” the spokeswoman added. “Those who hire surrogate mothers or make this a commercial business will be violating criminal law.”

The law is awaiting final approval from the National Legislative Assembly and would then have to be formally endorsed by Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej. It is unclear how long final approval will take.