Roma. The Italian Senate on Tuesday gave its final approval to a controversial government plan to allow groups that “support motherhood” to enter clinics where abortions are performed in order to try to dissuade women from terminating their pregnancies.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party attached the proposal in an amendment to a bill on Rome’s COVID-19 recovery plan, which includes a chapter dedicated to the health sector.
Meloni is a firm opponent of abortion, but during her victorious campaign for the 2022 general elections she promised that, despite her personal convictions, she would not modify current legislation on the matter.
The Senate approved by 95 votes in favor and 68 against, in a motion of confidence, the bill that allows the entry of anti-abortion groups into publicly managed family counseling clinics.
The project had obtained a first green light in the Chamber of Deputies last week, unleashing fierce criticism among opposition parties, who described it as an attack on the right to abortion in force since 1978.
Meloni’s party affirms that the new provision is only intended to give women the opportunity to reflect before making a final decision about their pregnancy and does not violate their rights.
Family counseling clinics, part of the NHS, offer women sexual health, pregnancy and maternity support and services, including medical consultations and prescriptions.
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– 2024-05-02 00:39:27
