The Italian Senate gave final approval on Tuesday (23) to a controversial government plan to allow groups that “support motherhood” to enter abortion clinics to try to dissuade women from terminating their pregnancies.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy party attached the proposal in an amendment to a bill on Rome's post-Covid-19 recovery plan, which includes a chapter dedicated to the health sector.
Meloni is staunchly anti-abortion, but promised during his successful campaign for the 2022 general election that, despite his personal convictions, he would not change existing legislation on the issue.
The Senate approved the bill allowing anti-abortion groups in publicly run family counseling clinics by a vote of 95 to 68 on a confidence motion.
The project got its first green light in the Chamber of Deputies last week, generating fierce criticism among opposition parties, who considered it an attack on the right to abortion in force since 1978.
Meloni's party claims that the new provision is only intended to give women an opportunity for reflection before making a final decision about their pregnancy and does not affect their rights.
Family counseling clinics, which are part of the national health service, offer women sexual health, pregnancy and maternity support and services, including consultations and prescriptions.
Source: CNN Brasil
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