The lower chamber of the Italian parliament passed a measure on Tuesday that will allow pro-life groups to work in abortion counseling centers.
This measure, designed to guarantee the freedom of speech and conscience of pro-life activists, is part of a larger package of initiatives originating in Prime Minister Georgia Meloni’s cabinet. It is also expected to pass easily in the Senate.
“We must not criminalize those who are against abortion,” Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani said. “We have always allowed freedom of conscience on issues of this kind. I believe it is right for everyone to behave according to their own beliefs and conscience.”
Feminist groups and Meloni’s political opposition have criticized the measure as a move against the rights of women.
Meloni has said she has no intention of changing Italy’s abortion law which allows abortion during the first 90 days of pregnancy.
Under Italy’s abortion law, passed in 1978, women must go to an abortion counseling center before having the procedure done. These were originally designed to help women find alternatives to abortion but, according to pro-life activists, they have long strayed from that mission. The new measure amends the abortion law to state explicitly that these consultancies can “make use, without new or greater burdens on public finances, also of the involvement of from the third sector who have qualified experience in maternity support.”
However, Jacopo Coghe, a spokesperson for Italy’s major pro-life organization Pro Vita & Famiglia, told the Italian media his group had no intention of going into abortion consultation centers and that they intended to continue their work by lobbying and raising public awareness.
He added that the counseling centers should “return to their original function of helping women find concrete alternatives to abortion.”
