In many regions, conscientious objectors exceed 80 per cent. The risk of having to turn to private clinics for abortion. Minister Lorenzin expresses surprise: “old data”.
Italy discriminates against doctors who perform abortions, despite the law enshrining the right to termination of pregnancy. This, in essence, is what the Council of Europe expressed in upholding a complaint lodged by the Cgil, one of Italy's most important trade unions.
According to the Council of Europe's Committee on Social Rights, "the Cgil has provided a large body of evidence demonstrating that non-objecting medical staff face direct and indirect disadvantages in terms of workload, assignment of duties and career opportunities."
There is also a not insignificant aspect to consider. If only a small number of doctors within a hospital are willing to perform terminations of pregnancy, they will find themselves doing almost nothing else, with a consequent limitation on their professional practice and, presumably, greater psychological stress.
In the conclusions of the document declaring the complaint admissible, it is stated that: "women seeking access to abortion services continue to face substantial difficulty in accessing them," with the consequence that "women who want an abortion may be forced to go to other facilities (other than public ones), in Italy or abroad," or to resort once again to clandestine abortion.
Health Minister Beatrice Lorenzin (Nuovo centrodestra) says she is surprised, explaining: "from the first things I have read, it seems to me that they are referring to old data, dating back to 2013." She went on to clarify that, based on more recent data: "we are not aware of any discrepancy. There are only a few public health bodies that have some critical issues, due to organisational problems."
"In some cases the percentages of gynaecologists who have declared conscientious objection are above 80 per cent" and "four out of ten public hospitals are in practice not applying law 194 of 1978," declared Roberta Agostini, a member of parliament for the Partito democratico, who has tabled several parliamentary questions on this subject. The law in question is the one that guarantees and regulates the voluntary termination of pregnancy.