Jenny’s Pennies

A week ago, in a hospital in Naples, Italy, a woman was recovering from her anaesthesia after having a (completely legal) abortion. Then, police entered the hospital and started interrogation the woman, still in her hospital bed. They also seized the aborted fetus as “evidence”. The woman, who in Italian newspapers has been identified by her first name Silvana, was 39 years old. (Read the New York Times article here, Dagens Nyheter in Swedish here)

The police had acted on an anonymous tip that the abortion had taken place later in the pregnancy than the law allows (in Italy the limit is 24 weeks). But the hospital showed that the pregnancy had been terminated at 21 weeks, well within the limit, after that a test had showed severe fetal deformities.

Why is it acceptable to treat a woman like this? Even if the police were to investigate it, surely there is a better way than to bust into the hospital ward in a way that Carmine Nappi, the chief of obstetrics at the hospital, likened to an anti-Mafia raid. Here is a woman who just has undergone a physically and emotionally painful experience, and the police thinks that is a good time to interrogate her?!

The event has led to protests in Italy, in defence of the country’s abortion law, with the participation of Health Minister Livia Turco who said: “we are defending a law that is close to us”.

In Italy, abortion has been legal for 30 years. The subject is of course controversial, since the Catholic Church has a huge influence on Italian politics and society. Parliamentary elections will be held mid-April, and abortion has now become a pivotal issue in the election campaign.

Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is expected to win the election and has promised to change the abortion law if he wins. He has also backed a campaign for getting the UN to declare a universal moratorium on abortions (I can’t wrap my head around this, and I really wish I read Italian so I could see how on earth he argues for this idea). The campaign was started in December last year, by Giu­liano Ferrara, editor of conservative newspaper Il Foglia (which is used as a campaign platform) and former minister in a Berlusconi government.

So while the anti-choice crowds are gathering strength, the partly liberal-Catholic center-left block is unsure of how to act, according to Dagens Nyheter. Last week, a web campaign was launched to compel the politicians to defend the abortion law. It says: “Enough is enough. The clerical offensive against women has become unbearable. But equally unbearable is the lack of reactions from the center-left.”

I wish the women of Italy best of luck. And Silvana, the woman who was harassed by the police and used as a tool by people who couldn’t care less about her and her feelings, I wish you well also.

Cara of the Curvature writes about the story here.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 18th, 2008 at 11:43 am and is filed under Europe, Health, Reproductive rights, Stupidity. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.