In Italy, women’s access to abortion care is “mostly hindered by procedural rules, long wait times for appointments, and in most regions the lack of implementation of new national guidelines on the provision of abortion procedures in day hospitals, outpatient clinics, and clinics”.
This is what we read in the report on Italy published by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, which calls on authorities to guarantee free access for women and girls to sexual and reproductive health services, including abortion treatment and contraception. , underlines the need to respect and support women’s rights, dignity and autonomy in maternal health services.
They worry about objections from “pro-life” advisers and doctors
Among the critical issues included in the report are regional initiatives aimed at integrating into clinics some specialized counseling services aimed at preventing abortion (in many cases carried out by associations of the “pro-life” galaxy, ed.) volunteers and counteracting the decline in birth rates. Non-governmental organizations that inspect structures on national territory underline that such initiatives risk undermining the impartiality of counseling centres, which is a fundamental condition for respecting women’s free choice.
According to what we read in the document, what makes the situation worse is the widespread phenomenon of conscientious objection among medical and health personnel. According to the information given by the authorities to the commissariat, the percentage of healthcare personnel registered as objectors in 2021 was 63.6 percent for gynecologists, 40.5 percent for anesthetists and 32.8 percent for non-medical personnel. Significant figures that undermine the health services provided by Law 194, which are not always guaranteed, and force many women to have abortions outside their region or even abroad. In some hospitals – we read in the text – there are only doctors who object. The figures are not compatible with the aims of the IVG law. This requires all regions to guarantee the right to abortion in all authorized public facilities. The Commissioner confirms that, in line with what has already been stated by the European Committee of Social Rights, Italy cannot guarantee free access to abortion and underlines that the abuse of conscientious objection amounts to “failure to respect the right to health protection and non-discrimination”.
Government response
The executive, led by Giorgia Meloni, responded to the report published by Commissioner Dunja Mijatović with a ten-page document. The following statements are included in the section titled “sexual and reproductive health and women’s rights” of the annual report on the implementation of Law No. 194 sent to the Parliament by the Ministry of Health: “Waiting periods between the issuance of the certificate required for IVG and the interventions” – we read in the answer – constantly is decreasing and women’s mobility is at a minimum level. According to the data announced by the government, 93.7% of pregnancy interruptions occur in the region of residence, and 87% of this occurs in the province of residence. Regarding conscientious objection, the report states that “problems that may be experienced in the provision of IVG service may arise from the organization of the service rather than the number of personnel objecting.”
Boldrini (Pd): “The government is undermining the law”
“The problem of access to the law on termination of pregnancy has not yet arisen, but the policies of this government certainly do not solve the problem, on the contrary, they make it even more difficult,” former Chamber President Laura Boldrini explains to Today.it. Worse still, what is happening in regions led by right-wing councils, where terminating a pregnancy has become a difficult process, shows this, and now the bill that requires women to listen to the heartbeat of the fetus to persuade them to terminate a pregnancy. They had guaranteed that they would not touch 194, they do not need it, it is enough to undermine it piece by piece with circulars, protocols, proposals, they attack women and the Government, instead of circumventing 194 with the inevitable contribution of anti-election associations, ensures that there are doctors who do not object in all public health facilities and RU 486 should ensure its full implementation, starting with free access. …Only in this way can a state law become available to women who need it, rather than remaining on paper.”
Vittoria Loffi (Italian Radicals): “194 needs to be updated”
“The government’s reaction is not surprising,” says Vittoria Loffi, leader of the Italian Radicals and responsible for the ‘Freedom of Abortion’ campaign; For them, these obstacles are vital and require President Meloni’s repeatedly reaffirmed position on Law 194. should not be changed. However, the statements we receive on a daily basis and the requests that accompany them provide information about an Ivg service that is based on closed and non-reprocessable data, far from that described in the annual report sent to Parliament. “The institutions dealing with this right speak of violations, costs, displacements and moral interference that are no longer acceptable, just as Europe has told us.”
“The report prepared by Commissioner Mijatović on Italy – continues Loffi – confronts our country with another piece of evidence: until law 194/1978, which guarantees a real right to abortion, is updated, we will be faced with an increasing number of insidious actions. According to the procedure established by the Commissioner Relevant and institutional barriers are, in fact, integral to the same legislation that did great good in stopping the scourge of clandestine abortion 45 years ago, but also transformed women’s rights.Pregnancy is on an obstacle course far beyond the legal category: the presence of anti-choice staff in clinics, compulsory thinking week, the very high percentage of conscientious objection, and the absence of clear and binding legislation on pharmacological abortion procedures, collectively reflect the progress our country has made from the frontier of reproductive rights, which today is at the center of global progressive policies”.
Adinolfi: “We need a law like in Texas”
The person who thinks exactly the opposite is Mario Adinolfi, president of Popolo della Famiglia. “The report – he attacks – calls nonsense, because in Italy there is not a single case of a woman being unable to have an abortion. None. Unfortunately, even last year there were over 63 thousand women who had abortions: at a time when this country needs a serious increase in birth rates.” We are talking about 175 children aborted every day. We have been demanding for a long time to override Bill 194, with an option that is mandatory for me. The number of abortions in Texas is over 50 thousand, thanks to the new law passed by the Republican governor Greg Abbott, who is also disabled. So it went up to 34, which is a number comparable to that in Italy. For me, that’s 34 too many, let’s be clear.”
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Source: Today IT
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
