More than two-thirds of obstetricians exercise ‘right to object’ to terminations
Financial Times
Seven Italian doctors who refused to perform a potentially life-saving abortion are fighting accusations of manslaughter in a trial that is expected to set a precedent for Italy’s medical attitude towards the procedure.
The trial held in Catania, Sicily, focuses on the circumstances of the death, in 2016, of five-months-pregnant Valentina Milluzzo. Members of Milluzzo’s family, who gave evidence on Tuesday, said that when the 32-year-old was admitted to hospital with complications, doctors said her unborn twins would not survive but refused to terminate the pregnancies on moral grounds, which ultimately led to fatal sepsis. . . [Full text]
This and other reports indicate that there is a dispute as to whether or not conscientious objection to abortion played any role in the death of Valentina Milluzzo. See Don’t exploit death of Italian woman to push abortion, ethicist says; No conscientious objectors: Health ministry inspectors report to Lorenzin; Anti-conscientious objection article in Irish Times very misleading.