ITALY 22 May 2008 Italy marks 30th anniversary of legal abortion

Italy legalized abortion on 22 May 1978 and the furore hasn't died down. The confiscation of an aborted foetus by Italian police in February has rekindled the charged debate. The Radical Party is planning rallies across Italy in support of the law.

Italians upheld the current law in a 1981 referendum proposed by Catholic forces seeking to overturn the legislation in the predominantly Roman Catholic country.

The debate on the issue in Italy is still open, especially after the proposal of the journalist Giuliano Ferrara, the editor of the newspaper Il Foglio, that suggested a moratorium on abortion. Ferrara, who is close to Silvio Berlusconi, started his appeal in Dec 2007, a day after the United Nations General Assembly approved a nonbinding resolution, pushed by Italy, calling for a moratorium on the death penalty.

His suggestion was promptly sustained by Rome’s Cardinal Camillo Ruini, and the parliamentarian Sandro Bondi of the Forza Italia party (Silvio Burlusconi’s party) announced plans in January to introduce legislation supporting the proposal. Many women staged protests to defend the current legislation in towns and cities across Italy. The Association of Medical Professionals officially supports the law, and encourages the use of the abortion drug RU486 and the day-after pill.

In February police rushed into a Naples hospital to interrogate a woman who had aborted a 21-week-old fetus minutes before. News reports said the aborted fetus was seized as evidence.

Thirteen famous Italian women signed a petition to safeguard the law and and are requesting support on their web site. They have collected more then 50,000 signatures.

The law was brought into being 30 years ago through the efforts of feminist associations (particularly the Movimento di Liberazione della Donna and the Unione donne italiane), the Radical Party and some socialist members of Parliament with a project of law inspired by the English Abortion Act (1967).

On 18 Nov 1974 the Catholic Church issued the document, "Dichiarazione sull'aborto procurato," in which there was the clear condemnation of the Pope to abortion.

The abortion law was approved, after significant debate, with 160 favourable votes and 148 against. To reconcile the Vatican, the law allows doctors who oppose abortion to be conscientious objectors. Mar/08

ARTICLE WRITTEN BY NEWSAHEAD EUROPE CORRESPONDENT VALENTINA DELLO RUSSO, WHO IS AVAILABLE FOR FREELANCE ASSIGNMENT. EMAIL: vale.dr@libero.it

RELATED READING:

Italians rally to defend abortion law (AP 14 Feb 2008)
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gRFlgkOtp3Ix3DjiN0uaELoI1ClAD8UQATI00

To the law (in Italian and English):
The women's petition and Petition
http://www.giustizia.it/cassazione/leggi/l194_78.html