Freedom of conscience among Italian Obstetrician-gynaecologists seen as “problem”

An Italian group called Gynecologists for the Application of Law 194/78 (LAIGA) has reported that conscientious objection to abortion among Italian obstetrician-gynaecologists is the majority position, reaching 80 or 90 percent in some parts of the country.  Most of the objectors are younger practitioners, so it would seem that the situation is unlikely to change.  LAIGA demands “regulation” of conscientious objection in response, by which it obviously means the suppression of freedom of conscience by some regulatory mechanism. [LifeSite News]

Italian pharmacists called upon to exercise conscientious objection

Pharmacists in Italy have been called upon by the Catholic church to be conscientious objectors against the ‘morning after pill’, since it sometimes acts as an abortifacient. The president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference suggested that pharmacists should be allowed to claim conscientious objector status, a protection afforded to doctors and nurses who do not wish to participate in abortion. Governors of northern Lombardy (around Milan) and Latium (around Rome) have affirmed that the rights of pharmacists to conscientious objection would be respected, despite the government’s position that pharmacists would be breaking the law if they refused to supply the drug.