Women CGIL Campania, “Here’s where the Meloni government diverts the Pnrr funds”

Naples

“It is absurd that, a few days after the resolution voted in Brussels to include abortion among the fundamental rights of the EU and to ban funding for anti-gender and anti-choice groups, the first female-led government becomes the author of yet another offensive political choice towards women, with the inclusion in the Pnrr legislative decree of the amendment which allows anti-choice associations, associations against voluntary termination of pregnancy, conscious motherhood and women’s right to choose for their own bodies”.

This is what Nicola Ricci, general secretary of Cgil Naples and Campania and Gaetanina Ricciardi, head of gender policies of Cgil Campania, say in a note.

“We are – continues the note – at a paradox: faced with continuous cuts to public health, the continuous closure of clinics everywhere in the country and also in our region, the Meloni government gives public resources to so-called ‘pro-life’ organizations which in reality they do nothing but hinder and make more tortuous the already arduous path of a woman who decides to terminate a pregnancy. Instead of giving resources to those associations, flaunting yet another intervention against law 194/78 as a measure aimed at its application,. it is necessary for the government to promote policies aimed at strengthening and strengthening the territorial network of public clinics, the hiring of non-objecting medical and paramedical personnel to respect the presence of at least 50% of non-objecting figures and finalizing the resources granted to the associations anti-choice, to the activities of the counseling centers which are an important tool for implementing the interventions envisaged to protect women’s health”.

“We – Ricci and Ricciardi specify – say no to this umpteenth political assault on the limitation of women’s freedom and their self-determination. We hope that the Campania Region will protect the sexual and reproductive health of women in its territory, dedicating the resources at its disposal solely for this purpose and fully implementing the provisions of regional resolution no. 1016 for the “Improvement and strengthening of consultancy activities aimed at the appropriate application of Law 194/78”.

“In fact – we read again in the note – we have already witnessed in the past attempts to establish anti-choice associations in our public health facilities, attempts that the women’s movement has harshly opposed; just as we have repeatedly denounced and opposed the closure of clinics and departments and facilities dedicated to IVG.

Campania needs useful measures to strengthen the right to female self-determination, not its denial.”

“According to the latest data released by the Ministry of Health on the application of law 194/78 and referring to 2021 – concludes the CGIL – ours is the region with the smallest presence of hospital facilities with gynecology and obstetrics departments that carry out the IVG, we are below 30%, and the percentage of objecting gynecologists is the highest in the country, we are second only to Molise, the rate of non-objecting medical staff is 74.1%. In our region it is necessary to apply law 194/78 by intervening on the lack of structures and qualified personnel and not allocating public resources to private entities contrary to women’s freedom of choice”.