In a television talk a few evenings ago they were defined as “harassers” and “terrorists”: psychological, of course. An image in which they, the operators of the Life Help Center (Cav) of Mangiagalli in Milan do not recognize themselves at all. There is no atmosphere of conflict between abortionists and “pro-life” people at the Policlinico, one of the two hospitals where the most children are born in Italy: 6,000 a year. However, there is no data on the number of abortions. Going up with the lift to the third floor of staircase B, where the Cav is located, you are helped to reach the headquarters by the plates detailing the street. Not a clandestine presence, therefore. Indeed, it was a non-objecting doctor, Giorgio Pardi, who wanted the Center in the structure forty years ago. A presence later confirmed and, it is said, appreciated by the recently retired director, Enrico Ferrazzi, also a non-objector. «There was an unwritten agreement with Pardi: pregnant women who reported difficulties were sent to the Cav», begins the director Soemia Sibillo, 48 years old, two children, a degree in Law and a “first life” in the field of communication and of journalism.
Soemia, who owes her name to her maternal grandfather’s passion for ancient studies, is the “soul child” of the historic founder of Cav Mangiagalli, the volcanic Paola Bonzi, who passed away in 2019, protagonist of epic love-hate duels with the primary Alessandra Kustermann, who also gave an interview in recent days in which she suggests putting “insurmountable limits on the Cavs”. «We were surprised, yes, a little saddened by this sniping at life-saving workers. We don’t brainwash. We don’t try to convince women with manipulative techniques. We don’t play the fetal heartbeat or use words like “murder.” We are secular by statute, we welcome women from all over the world and belonging to all religions. We listen and offer help. That’s all”. The amendment proposed by Fratelli d’Italia, which suggests to the Regions the possibility of “making use of third sector entities who have qualified experience in supporting maternity”, for Soemia and the others adds nothing new to what is already it happens. «So much fuss about nothing. It is a text that recalls and underlines what has already been established by law 194″. Furthermore, life support centers are already present in numerous Italian hospitals: four in Piedmont, one in Sardinia, one in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, three in Sicily, one in Liguria, where there are also three agreements with the local health authorities. In Castrovillari, Calabria, the agreement with the hospital lasts twenty years.
In Lombardy, in addition to Mangiagalli, there is a Cav at the Vimercate hospital and at the Buzzi in Milan. «Women and girls arrive who have received our contact details from family doctors, nurses and gynaecologists, even from operators of public clinics», says Antonella Cazzadore, the family consultant and professional educator who has been dealing with interviews with women in the first trimester of pregnancy (over 20 per month), required by law, which can result in the decision to abort or keep the baby. In her studio, as in the entire Cav Mangiagalli, there are no threatening slogans, nor rubber puppets in the shape of fetuses. The environment is welcoming, intimate, with sofas and cushions and herbal teas. «The social workers of the Municipalities send us pregnant girls who have been thrown out of their homes by their parents and ask us if we have emergency accommodation. They are scared, assailed by doubts. They think they can’t become mothers, but they would like to keep the child – says Antonella Cazzadore -. Today (yesterday, ed.) I had an interview with a girl who was unsure whether to continue her pregnancy because she is still on probation and she fears that they won’t renew her contract. For the first time, with us, she thought she could do it.” Yet, according to the dictates of law 194, it is the public counseling centers that have to contribute “to removing the causes that could lead the woman to interrupt her pregnancy”. But they don’t always – almost never – have the resources or the possibility.
The Cav of Milan, which lives on donations and bequests, has a network of accommodation available for the most difficult cases or emergencies and can offer women (and their companions) a training or retraining work project in collaboration with the GiGroup Foundation. Detractors (in bad faith) accuse the Cavs of «intercepting women and offering them some money to keep their child» (sic). «In reality, the economic help we can give is limited. If the requirements are met, we try to activate a Gemma Project (monthly financial support for 18 months, ed.); more often we undertake to pay the bills, the rent arrears, we provide nappies and shopping vouchers, clothes and powdered milk, breast pumps and prams”, says Soemia Sibillo. In short, what the State should do, the Cav does; nurses, doctors and social workers know this, and for this reason they direct women and girls who express doubts or uncertainties about abortion there. «They also come to us with the IVG certificate in hand, but they are not convinced. We listen to them, let’s build an aid project together. Let’s ensure that the conversation remains in their hearts as an authentic relationship. We are respectful of their freedom: if they don’t return we won’t call them back. But for most it is enough to feel listened to, taken care of by attentive and sensitive professionals.”
Yes, professionals: because the 10 employees of Cav Mangiagalli and the 17 professionals who also work in the nearby private clinic accredited since 2000 by the Lombardy Region (reimbursement of 17.90 euros for an obstetric visit, 31.90 euros for the interview with the psychologist , free for patients) are all qualified. Gynecologists, psychologists, midwives, family assistants, educators: some provide consultancy on a voluntary basis, others are paid by the Cav himself to ensure their presence every day. Sixty volunteers ensure the distribution of aid. Thus in 2023 Cav Mangiagalli supported 1,445 women, the majority of whom were foreigners. There are 25,661 children born from 1984 to today. One of them is a “secret birth”: the third child of an Italian woman who felt too poor to raise him. She gave birth to him, and that’s great news. «We should ask ourselves – concludes Sibillo –: where is the woman’s self-determination, when the State does not help her make a truly free decision?».
