Abortion rights pit Meloni’s Italy against remaining G7 partners – News

According to diplomatic sources contacted by Agence France-Presse (AFP), Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s objections angered partners of the country holding the G7 presidency this year.

U.S. President Joe Biden wanted at least words (…) on women’s health and reproductive rights in Hiroshima in 2023 under the Japanese president, a senior U.S. official said.

According to the US, “Report [final do G7] “Reaffirms the commitment made in Hiroshima,” the official said, referring to Japan’s support for “safe and legal” voluntary termination of pregnancy (abortion).

Meloni’s office, known for its ultra-conservative stance in favor of the traditional family, denied any criticism of the US proposal, saying negotiations were still ongoing.

Last year, in the final statement of the summit held in Japan, leaders expressed their “deep concern” over the decline in women’s rights.

They ensured “access to safe and legal abortion and post-abortion care.”

A source close to the negotiations told AFP that the final declaration mentions “safe access” to abortion from 2021, but “Meloni doesn’t want that”.

The far-right prime minister is “isolated on this issue. But since it is a host country, others decided not to make it an issue,” the source said.

“Therefore, additional considerations on the right to abortion will not be included in the text of the final report”, but the Hiroshima Declaration will be affirmed.

France and Canada, whose constitutions enshrine the right to an abortion, were particularly outraged by Meloni’s stance, Italian daily Tomani reported.

Abortion is a hot topic in the US, where the president has condemned restrictions on this fundamental right in the most conservative states.

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A source from the Italian Presidency denied that the reference to “secure access” had been removed.

“No state has asked to remove abortion-related issues from the draft G7 summit decisions at a stage where negotiations are still ongoing” and “whatever is included in the final document” will result. Negotiations added evidence of the same.

In power from October 2022, Giorgia Meloni, who likes to present herself as a “Christian mother”, has been accused by women’s rights activists of trying to block access to abortion in Italy, where the Catholic Church has strong influence.

Although abortion has been legal since 1978, access to it has been severely limited by a very high percentage of obstetricians who have conscientious objection to not performing it.

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