we talk about abortion. With 7 men and 0 women

Watching “Porta a Porta” on Thursday night was astounding. Seven men, some of them elderly, around a table talking about abortion, notoriously a purely male issue, all engaged in discussing rights, freedom, female self-determination, counseling centers, volunteers… And those directly involved? Yes, there were some in the studio audience. And then a doctor and a pregnant woman undergoing an ultrasound, portrayed in a blow-up in the background to illustrate the male debate. Here’s what went on stage (o-scene): men talking about a topic that primarily concerns women and them, the protagonists, in the background or figurines clapping on command. While the deputy Alessandro Zan, responsible for Rights in the secretariat of the Democratic Party, described the pro-life associations and their volunteers as people who “psychologically harass” women, who carry out “psychological terrorism”, who “spread anti-scientific theses”, it would have been interesting that in Bruno Vespa’s program (who, to be honest, strongly responded to these statements) you could hear the voice of one of the thousands of volunteers (almost all women) who work every day in the Help for Life Centers (Cav).

Or, why not, perhaps even the direct testimony of a woman who has had to deal with abortion, who has undergone it or who in the end has chosen, on the contrary, to become a mother. Is that too much to ask? In reality we are not the ones asking for it. The real short circuit is that Rai itself would be demanding it, given that for some years it has become the Italian standard-bearer of the European “No Women No Panel” campaign, to guarantee an equal presence in public talks and debates. The commitment signed a year ago by the president Marinella Soldi is evidently less valid for Bruno Vespa and for “Porta a Porta”, whose editorial staff nevertheless attempted to explain the slip-up with the fact that all the women invited – three MPs from the Democratic Party, one newspaper editor – were unavailable. Soldi herself, according to the Ansa agency, wrote to Bruno Vespa, recalling the fundamental role of the public service. Here is her response: «Beyond the specific circumstance which I believe I have amply clarified, I recalled that the reputation of Porta a Porta comes from hosting very representative politicians. Well there are only 5 women (Pd and M5S) out of 18 presidents, vice-presidents and presidents of the parliamentary groups of the top 5 parties. In any case we will do everything we can to guarantee women the role they deserve.”

Too bad, another missed opportunity. And not just to discuss abortion: the male audience – in addition to Vespa and Zan, also Mario Sechi, Antonio Noto, Giovanni Donzelli, Federico Rampini and Tommaso Labate – was called to debate the European Council, war, judgments school… There was really no expert in politics, education or economics to call into the studio, even at the last minute in case of defection, as explained by the program’s editorial staff, to guarantee if not exactly an “equal presence” at least a certain balance? The answer is no, obviously: Italian society is full of female scientists, researchers and economists. Some of them, like the new rector of the University of Milan Marina Marzia Brambilla, are at the top. Inattention and superficiality of those who organize the talk show schedules and those who sign them are no longer a good excuse, just as there are no excuses for what happened in recent days to the Board of Directors of the Italian Medicines Agency, with the renewal of 10 out of 10 male advisors. Truly unforgivable.