“Italy’s measures on abortion do not fall within the Pnrr”. The spokesperson of the European Commission for economic affairs Veerle Nuyts says this in Brussels in the daily press briefing, a real rejection of the funds to finance pro-lifers in counseling centers. That is, on the amendment to the Recovery Plan approved in the Budget Commission on the proposal of the Brothers of Italy which will soon go to the Chamber of Deputies.
“The Pnrr decree contains measures that concern the governance structure of the Pnrr and these aspects are actually linked to the Italian Recovery and Resilience Plan but there are other aspects that are not covered and have no connection with the Pnrr, such as this abortion law,” says Nuyts. A position reiterated by deputy spokesperson Arianna Podestà: “The presence of anti-abortion volunteers in women’s clinics has no relationship with the National Plan for the recovery and resilience of Italy”.
THE CONTROVERSY
The Commission’s words inflame the political debate in Italy. The secretary of +Europa Riccardo Magi speaks of the “political use” of Pnrr funds: “An offense to women, to freedom, to dignity. More than the government of the patriots, it is the government of the Italiots”. For Pro Vita, one of the associations interested in the amendment, the Commission is the victim of the fake news spread by the Italian left: “It is not true that the amendment has nothing to do with it, given that Mission 6 ‘Health’ of the Pnrr provides for the creation of proximity structures for local healthcare”, claims Jacopo Coghe.
M5S, FDI AND ITALIAN LEFT
Deputy Elisa Scutellà, M5s group leader in the EU Policy Commission, says that “the Meloni government thus aligns itself with the most retrograde and conservative European right-wing governments”. And the 5 Star leader Giuseppe Conte warns: “Let’s not reopen useless ideological conflicts.” The vice president of the Chamber of Deputies Fabio Rampelli (FdI) comes to defend the majority: “The Italian Parliament is sovereign. Unless the intangibility of the Chambers has value exclusively when the left governs. As many have become accustomed to believing” . For Nicola Fratoianni of the Italian Left “the right to terminate a pregnancy cannot be touched”.
SPAIN AND MELONS
In recent days, the Spanish Minister for Equality Ana Redondo had attacked the amendment: “Allowing organized pressure against women who want to terminate a pregnancy means undermining a right recognized by law. It is the strategy of the far right: threatening to take away rights , to curb equality between women and men”. Immediately afterwards came the reply from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni: “Several times I have listened to foreign ministers who talk about internal Italian issues without knowing the facts. Normally when you are ignorant on a topic you must at least have the good manners not to give lessons”. Meanwhile, an agenda of the Democratic Party on the new provisions in the counseling centers was rejected by the majority the day before yesterday. But 15 Northern League members abstained.
Alessandro D’Amato
