Italy: abortion called into question

In Umbria, since the coming to power of the League, a right-wing party, it is increasingly difficult to have an abortion. At 67, when she should be retired, Marina Toschi is overwhelmed. The gynecologist must welcome a new patient in her practice in Perugia. Women who can no longer have an abortion close to home. “This lady had to go to Tuscany to have an abortion, she couldn’t find a solution. Normally, she should be able to come here, 100 meters from her home”, she explains. In the region, she is one of the last to agree to prescribe the abortion pill and ensure the follow-up of women. Because in Italy, the law allows doctors to refuse to perform an abortion. This is called conscientious objectors.

In the hospital of this region, they are 80% to refuse. Ineligible for Marina: “We are in front of the Perugia hospital, the largest in Umbria, the one where we should teach and perform medical abortions and we don’t do it. In the Catholic universities, which are the best, we don’t talk about the abortion or contraception and when you return they make you sign a document to become a conscientious objector”. A situation that worries women in the region. This should not work out in the coming months. Far-right candidate and poll favorite Giorgia Meloni said she wanted to protect motherhood and find solutions to allow women not to have abortions.