Abortion returns to the spotlight in Italy, 46 years after it was legalized

By NICOLE WINFIELD
Associated Press

ROME (AP) — Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni’s far-right-led government has scored a victory with the Senate approving a law allowing anti-abortion groups access to women considering ending their pregnancies. Tuesday’s development revives tensions around the issue of abortion in Italy, 46 years after it was legalized in the overwhelmingly Catholic country. Meloni campaigned on a slogan of “God, fatherland and family” but has insisted she won’t roll back the 1978 law legalizing abortion and that she merely wants to implement it fully. But she’s also prioritized encouraging women to have babies to reverse Italy’s demographic crisis. Italy’s birthrate, already one of the lowest in the world, reached a record low last year. The left-wing opposition fears abortion rights are threatened.