In 1974 the Italian feminist activist and later politician Emma Bonino, who has died aged 78, became pregnant. A doctor had told her that she was “sterile”. She attempted to get an abortion and found a doctor in Florence who was willing to help her – for a fee.
Bonino felt humiliated and angry – all abortions were illegal in Italy at the time – and became involved with the Radical party, an organisation interested in civil and human rights, and the growing feminist movement. She and other militants set up a network of centres “for sterilisation and abortion” (CISA) across Italy that challenged the law by providing safe and free abortions.
