«The Marche region is in default of the right to legal, safe and free abortion». Tuesday 18 June 2024 discussion in the Regional Council and garrison in Piazza Camillo Benso di Cavour, 23, from 10 am to 1 pm
Pharmacological method
The focus is on the pharmacological method, available only in a few facilities and only up to 7 weeks of gestation instead of up to 9 as in the rest of Italy, conscientious objection, a counseling network suffering due to lack of staff and tools, presence of anti-abortion associations in clinics. «In the Marche Region which is in default on the right to legal, safe and free abortion, initiatives are announced for Tuesday 18 June, when the Regional Council has scheduled the discussion on these issues on the agenda, the subject of a question and an interpellation of the Democratic Party.” Present in the audience will be the Association of Territorial Gynecologists (Agite), Aied Ascoli Piceno, the Association of Non-Objective Gynecologists (Laiga) and the Pro-choice Italian network for contraception and abortion, with the feminist network Marche Altro+di194 which is also organizing a demonstration in square in front of the Council headquarters, in Piazza Camillo Benso di Cavour, 23 in Ancona.
The question
On the agenda of the session is question no. 1185, already presented on 18 April 2024 which calls into question the Regional Council and the competent Councilor on “voluntary termination of pregnancy with mifepristone and prostaglandins, in an outpatient or day hospital setting and failure to implement the guidelines of the Superior Health Council of 12/08/2020”. In the text of the question, first signed by PD councilor Manuela Bora, it is underlined that “the share of pharmacological IVG in the Marche (20.7%) is less than half the national average (47.3%), with strong variability between IVG points”. A question is also scheduled on the methods of application of law 194/1978 with particular reference to the presence of so-called “pro-life” associations in the clinics.
The position
«Access to IVG in the Marche region is not only complicated by the unavailability of the pharmacological method beyond the 7th week, but also by the levels of conscientious objection in clinics and hospitals, as shown by the data we obtained from the regional health authority with a specific request for access to documents”, declares Marte Manca, trans-feminist activist of Pro-choice RICA (Italian contraception-abortion network). As for the consultants, the subject of the question, «with reference to the year 2023, out of 66 family consultants less than half issue IVG certifications, i.e. 27. According to law 194, conscientious objection is permitted only on the abortive procedure and not for what precedes or follows it and therefore should not be allowed in the clinic. Yet, in 7 consultancy offices the staff is 100%, in 18 offices it is from 40% to 67%, in 13 offices the percentage ranges from 20% to 33%. Only in 9 locations there are no objecting staff. As for hospitals, in Fermo and Jesi conscientious objection is al
100%, in Senigallia, Civitanova and Fano between 80% and 90%, only in Ancona and Urbino is it below 30%.
«On 8 March 2022, a warning was sent by over 20 associations and entities to request the application of the 2020 guidelines, without this producing any feedback» points out the Marche Feminist Network Altro+di194. «The Region, despite the massive international scientific literature and ministerial guidelines, has still been in the experimental phase in the field of pharmacological IVG since 2016.
In 2024, after 8 years, we are still here waiting: why doesn’t pharmacological IVG in Day Hospital with a single access and/or in a clinic take place in all of the Marche region?”
