Unbearable Fruit

The Sterile Domestic Harvest of Socialism

Italy's Department of Public Health came under fire for its series of advertisements promoting "Fertility Day," which fell on September 22. "Beauty has no age limit. Fertility does," read the caption of one poster, which depicted a woman holding an hourglass in one hand while resting the other lightly on her belly. "Don't let your sperm go up in smoke," warns another, this one showing an unmistakably male hand holding a half-burned cigarette. A third poster features a rotting banana; its caption reads, "Male fertility is much more vulnerable than you might think."

The purpose of the ad campaign was, of course, to encourage young Italian couples to have more...