Italian women can now use the abortion pill in an outpatient clinic, without being hospitalized, to terminate a pregnancy.
This Saturday, August 8, 2020, the Italian Minister of Health, Roberto Speranza, announced a relaxation of the conditions of access to the abortion pill. Women will be able to use it in order to terminate a pregnancy and will no longer have to be hospitalized. He explained that this change was based on scientific evidence and constituted "an important step forward " in accordance with the Italian law of 1978 legalizing abortion. "The scientific arguments are very clear. The Higher Health Council and the gynecology and obstetrics societies have expressed a favorable opinion. These new recommendations represent significant progress"said Roberto Speranza.
Until now, Italian women had to be hospitalized to take the abortion pill to end a pregnancy. Many women and abortion rights activists lobbied for this to be possible in outpatient clinics. According to them, the requirement to go through hospitalization discouraged women from resorting to the drug. Despite objections from the Catholic Church, Italy legalized abortion in 1978 and approved the use of the abortion pill until the seventh week of gestation in 2009. However, 70% of gynecologists invoke conscientious objection in order not to perform an abortion.
MEP Giorgia Meloni criticized the new guidelines, saying they were a step backwards for women because she said the abortion pill would deprive women of necessary psychological and medical care. In a statement reported by the newspaper of the Italian Episcopal Conference, she said that would do "live a difficult and dangerous procedure for women in solitude".
Roberto Speranza's assistant, Sandra Zampa, said it was time to revise the guidelines as a decade of experience has shown thatThe drug could be administered safely without hospitalization. The new law indicates that a woman can now use the abortion pill until the ninth week of pregnancy.
In 2018, Italy recorded 76,328 abortion, i.e. -5.5% compared to 2017, far from the peak of 234,801 reached in 1983.