Abortion in Italy
[2] Italian women are eligible to request an abortion for health, economic or social reasons, including the circumstances under which conception occurred.
Although the law only permits pregnancy termination to women at least eighteen years old, it also includes provisions for women younger than eighteen, who can request the intervention of a judge when the legal tutor refuses the intervention, or there are reasons to exclude the legal tutor from the process.
Women younger than eighteen do not need parental consent in case of urgent situation or after 90 days.
[3] Since 1980, the Laboratory of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the High Institute of Health (Istituto Superiore di Sanità, ISS) in Rome has maintained a surveillance system for legal induced abortions.
The mother has by law the right to remain permanently anonymous and the custody of the newborn is temporarily given to the hospital, waiting until a third party adoption takes place.
A phenomenon to emerge in recent years has been an increase in the number of abortions requested by immigrant women.
If the analysis of trends is limited to 1996–1998, years for which information is most complete on residency status, the number of abortions in Italian women declined from 127,700 in 1996 to 123,728 in 1998.
[11] Before the approval of the law, in 1978, abortion was considered to be a crime against the integrity and the bloodline, as stated in the Criminal Code book 2 Title X.
The turning point for the abortion debate was decision number 27 of the Italian Constitutional Court on 18 February 1975 that stated that Article 546 is unconstitutional.
[16] From the end of the 1960s, feminism played a leading role in reorganizing the terms of the debate about women and their condition.
The council of Italian bishops issued a statement confirming the church's position on abortion and arguing against its legalization.
Family counselling centers shall assist any pregnant woman: The law presents two different scenarios:[25] 1) Pregnancy during the first 90 days (Art.
4)[24] In order to practice the termination of pregnancy during the first 90 days, women whose situation is such that continuation of the pregnancy, childbirth, or motherhood would seriously compromise their physical or mental health, in view of their state of health, their economic, social, or family circumstances, the circumstances in which conception occurred, or the chance that the child would be born with abnormalities or malformations, shall apply to a public counselling center or to a fully authorized medical-social agency in the region, or to a physician of her choice.
[24] Furthermore, there is the need for guardian's approval if a girl that is under 18 years old or the woman that is interdicted in order to carry out abortion (Art.
However, conscientious objection may not be invoked by health professionals if the personal intervention is essential in order to save the life of a woman in imminent danger.
According to data from the Ministry of Health, between 1997 and 2016 there was a 12.9% increase in the number of gynecologists who refuse to perform abortions on moral grounds, from 62.8% to 70.9%, the highest percentage ever recorded.
[26] A resolution by the Council of Europe has found several violations of the European Social Charter in the situation: In April 2024, Italy's parliament approved a legislation proposed by the government of Giorgia Meloni to give anti-abortion groups access to abortion facilities where they can try to convince women seeking abortion.
Medical practitioners criticized the legislation saying they will allow unqualified and anti-abortion groups to have access to women seeking the service.
[30] Access to abortion facilities have already been restricted in Italy because of the high number of gynaecologists who morally object to perform the procedure, who in 2021 accounted for 63% of the total.
