Pregnant women in the northern Italian region of Piedmont could be paid €4,000 (£3,300) not to have an abortion under a proposal submitted by a far-right councillor, sparking condemnation from opposition parties and women’s groups.
Maurizio Marrone, regional councillor for social policies, foresees the region giving €400,000 to anti-abortion associations, which in turn would make the money available to 100 women to entice them not to abort.
“In Piedmont, 100 more children will be born,” said Marrone, a politician with the far-right Brothers of Italy. “Children who would not have otherwise come into the world because of their mothers’ economic difficulties.”
The scheme was immediately condemned, with another Piedmont councillor, Sarah Disabato, describing it as a “substantial gift to anti-abortion propaganda”. “It is being disguised as aid for women who choose to have an abortion due to economic problems,” she said.
Non Una di Meno, a feminist alliance, said it was disgusted but not surprised by the initiative, accusing Marrone of using women and their bodies for “squalid electoral and political positioning purposes”.
“Motherhood is a choice,” the alliance wrote on Facebook. “A false promise of economic support won’t convince us, on the contrary, it represents a mockery and is manipulative towards those who are in economic hardship.”
Abortion was legalised in Italy in 1978 under legislation called Law 194. However, women struggle to access safe abortions due to the high number of gynaecologists who refuse to terminate pregnancies for moral reasons. Seven out of 10 doctors in Italy are “moral objectors”. In addition, anti-abortion activists infiltrate hospitals to try to prevent abortions from taking place. Marrone, who said he would have liked to set aside more money for the scheme, last year allowed anti-abortion groups to set up counters in clinics by the local health authority, Asl, and hospitals in Piedmont.
“It was not enough for Marrone to allow this, but now he announces €400,000 to associations that define abortion as the primary cause of femicide,” said Marco Grimaldi, a politician with the leftwing party, Free and Equal.
A rightwing coalition made up of Brothers of Italy, the League and Forza Italia secured the leadership of Piedmont in 2019. The parties compete together in general elections, with the next vote due to be held in spring 2023. Brothers of Italy is polling as the biggest party in the country.
