
Swept away by Italian elections that are expected to see Giorgia Meloni soon form the nation's first far-right-led government since World War II were veterans of successful battles for civil rights, including divorce and abortion, as well as lawmakers still struggling for freedoms like same-sex marriage.
Worried that the conservative tide of political sentiment that emerged in Sunday's voting for Parliament might erode hard-won civil rights, Italy's women are mobilizing, organizing rallies in a dozen cities for Wednesday evening to raise their voices in defense of abortion rights.