Devendra Kumar
The Italian Senate’s recent passage of a law allowing anti-abortion groups to access women considering terminating their pregnancies has sparked controversy over abortion rights in the country. The law, tied to European Union Covid-19 recovery funds, includes an amendment sponsored by Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing Brothers of Italy party that permits regions to permit groups “with a qualified experience supporting motherhood” to access public support centers where women seek counseling. Opponents argue that this law chips away at abortion rights, restricting access to the procedure and forcing women to travel further to obtain it.
Italy has a history of restricting abortion access, with healthcare personnel able to register as conscientious objectors and refuse to perform abortions. The country’s birth rate has been declining steadily for 15 years, reaching a record low last year, and Giorgia Meloni’s conservative forces aim to encourage at least 500,000 births annually by 2033 to address the demographic crisis. Proponents of the law argue that it fulfills the original intent of the 1978 law legalizing abortion, which includes provisions to prevent the procedure and support motherhood.
Meloni has insisted that she will not roll back the 1978 law and merely wants to implement it fully, emphasizing the need to encourage women to have babies. She has also pointed to the country’s aging population as a reason for the law. The development comes as other European countries are moving in the opposite direction, with France having inscribed the guaranteed right to abortion into its constitution and Malta easing its strict abortion laws. In contrast, Poland’s lawmakers are working to lift a near-total ban on abortion.
Elly Schlein, head of Italy’s opposition Democratic Party, has called for an obligatory percentage of doctors willing to perform abortions in public hospitals, warning that otherwise, the country’s abortion rights will remain on paper only. Cecilia D’Elia, a Democratic Party senator, has expressed concerns that the government is eroding women’s reproductive autonomy and fears women’s choices regarding motherhood, sexuality, and abortion. The controversy surrounding the law has sparked fears of a possible erosion of abortion rights in Italy, with some fearing the country may follow the US, where states are restricting access to abortion after the US Supreme Court’s landmark decision.