The abortion debate in America could learn a lot from Italy, a country whose abortion rate has been steadily declining because doctors are simply refusing to do them.
PRI reports that even though abortion was legalized in Italy 40 years ago, access to abortion has been declining, as has the number of abortions, because so many doctors are simply objecting to the procedure.
“For example, in the public University of Rome, we have more than 60 doctors but only two provide abortion, only two,” said Silvana Agatone, a gynecologist in Rome. Agatone is pro-choice and is bemoaning this new shift in Italian culture. “In 2005, the percentage of gynecologists that didn’t provide abortion was about 59 percent,” she said. “Now [it is] 70 percent. And it’s growing every year.”
In some parts of Italy, “the percentage of doctors who refuse to perform abortions is as high as 90 percent.” Not only are some gynecologists refusing but nurses and anesthesiologists are also refusing on moral grounds.
The shift in Italy as more of a pro-life country is likely due to its political make up. Far-right and populist parties in Italy are increasing, and those folks are often more socially conservative. Agatone and other pro-choice gynecologists want to petition the Italian government to require public hospitals to ensure there are always “enough” medical staff available who are not conscientious objectors so anyone can have an abortion if they want. This is unlikely to pick up steam.
Ireland is currently combating a similar shift in culture. Now that abortion is legal, several groups of doctors are saying they will not perform them due to religious objections.
The fact that the United States has a separate healthcare system for abortions (via clinics like Planned Parenthood) has, in many ways, made abortions seem special, like a cottage industry, and has, as we have seen, allowed for rampant illegal activity within those clinics. However, Italy is on to something, in terms of watching abortions decline simply because more doctors stood up and stood firm in their own religious convictions.
Nicole Russell (@russell_nm) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is a journalist who previously worked in Republican politics in Minnesota.
