San Marino has finally decriminalized abortion
Finally we can say it, San Marino women can say it: San Marino has decriminalized abortion after a struggle that lasted years. With the majority of “Yes” in the referendum last September calling for things to be changed, there had already been a historic turning point, but the law was still missing. Now the process has ended and the San Marino parliament has approved the final text, marking the victory of freedom of choice.
Abortion in San Marino, 18 years of attempts
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When Law 194 was passed in Italy in 1978, which legalized the IVG, abortion remained illegal in the small independent state between Emilia-Romagna and Marche. Until now, women who decided to terminate a pregnancy were at risk from the age of 6 and, in order to obtain an abortion, they had to turn to Italian structures, paying for the service. “The articles of the penal code that effectively outlawed abortion date back to 1865“, explained Karen Pruccoli, member of the Union of San Marino Women, al Corriere della Sera, “They were confirmed in the Fascist era, as in Italy the Rocco code was confirmed and then reconfirmed in 1974. Then Italy in 1978 regulated abortion and San Marino turned the other way, the rules remained, without leading to convictions, of which there is no recent memory. ”In 2003, 18 years ago, there was a first attempt to change things, the same in 2014, 2017 and 2019. Always unsuccessful.
The referendum
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In the spring of 2021, the Union of San Marino Women, together with other feminist groups, began a collection of signatures to request a referendum on the issue. On September 26th, he got to the vote, on a text it said: “You want it to be allowed within the woman to interrupt the pregnancy week of gestation, and even later if there is danger to the life of the woman or if there are anomalies and malformations of the fetus that involve serious risk for the physical or psychological health of the woman? “. The victory of the “Yes” was overwhelming, marking the real turning point: 11,119 votes in favor and 3,265 against out of 14,384 voters.
The law
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After the victory in the referendum, it was necessary for the San Marino parliament to approve a new law and modify the penal code. The process was not immediate, despite the referendum question being of a “propositional or guiding” type, that is, it already contained within it the principles and criteria that parliament should have followed to legislate. Only last Wednesday, August 31, 2022, the new law was approved with 32 votes in favor, 7 against and 10 abstentions inserting the possibility of aborting “without the obligation to provide anyone” within the twelfth week of gestation. The pregnancy can be terminated even afterwards, in case of danger to life or serious health risk of the woman, anomalies of the fetus, rape or incest. In addition, the law introduces counseling centers where underage girls can access emergency contraception without parental authorization or prescription, sex education programs in schools and some corrective measures to conscientious objection such as prohibition, for doctors. who choose it in the public, to carry out voluntary interruption of pregnancy interventions in the profession. Finally, the new text such as the prosecution of professionals who provide false information to request an interruption of pregnancy and establishes, as a principle, the protection of the “dignity of the woman from any moral judgment or psychological pressure in relation to personal choice or intentionality. of the same to make use of the procedures or interventions envisaged “.