► Data on abortion in Italy and the law 194
The 2021 report on voluntary termination of pregnancy published by the Italian Ministry of Health shows that in 2019, 67% of gynecologists refused to perform abortion in the name of the conscience clause. According to the report, this percentage is down compared to that of 2018 and this is not particularly problematic in abortion services (…).
But the reality is not reflected by these numbers. The Luca-Coscioni association conducted an independent investigation, named “Never Data”, which reveals that in 22 hospitals and four public clinics, 100% of gynecologists, anesthetists and nurses refuse to perform abortion.
→ ARCHIVE. Abortion is once again a subject of debate in Italy
According to the survey of the Ministry of Health, in nearly one in two hospitals, more than 80% of doctors are opposed to abortion, especially in Abruzzo, Puglia, Basilicata and Sicily. In the region of Molise (southern Italy), this rate reaches 92%. One of Molise’s rare non-conscientious objector gynecologists, Michele Mariano, has postponed his retirement until January 2022 to take care of his patients.
In April 2021, the Molise Health Society launched a competition to recruit non-objecting gynecologists, but no candidate came forward. There is therefore only one gynecologist who performs abortion in the region, Dr. Giovanna Gerardi.
Law 194 of 1978 specifies that conscientious objection is possible and guaranteed by article 9, but if a gynecologist refuses to perform abortion, in the same hospital another non-objecting gynecologist must necessarily be present. But, as the survey reports “Never Data”, the law is not always respected.
► The arguments of objecting gynecologists
The arguments for opposing abortion are not only religious. Non-objecting physicians believe that performing abortions can be detrimental to their career advancement. They think they risk being stigmatized by their colleagues and condemned to do just that, with an inordinate workload.
→ THE FACTS. Vatican warns of expansion of medical abortion in Italy
An objecting gynecologist, who prefers to remain anonymous and who works in a private Sicilian religious clinic, explains to The cross that, in the event of an emergency, “We invite the patient to join a public hospital, where she will be taken care of”.
► Clandestine abortions still constant
According to the report of the Italian health ministry, while the number of legal abortions decreases each year, that of clandestine abortions remains constant. Difficult to trace, there are around 15,000 each year.
Most of them concern foreign women who, for lack of accessible information and sometimes under duress, resort to dangerous drugs taken without medical supervision. Women who have an illegal abortion can be fined up to € 10,000.
► Towards new compromises
Countryside “Free to have an abortion” (“Free to abort”) of the Radicali Italiani movementappealed to the Italian government. In particular, he asks for the recruitment of new non-objecting doctors to achieve parity with opposing doctors.
“The two major problems, explains Giulia Crivellini, representative of the movement, are the too high rate of opposition to abortion and the level of disinformation. The women who ask us do not know the different methods of abortion and fear being judged if they go to the hospital ”. According to Giulia Crivellini, the disparity in access to abortion is a form of discrimination.
Many associations demand that a list of gynecologists performing abortion be made public, as well as a reform of law 194, “A good compromise at the time, but which needs to be adapted today”, says Guilia Crivellini.
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