A woman facing an unexpected pregnancy is often in deep despair and experiencing overwhelming anxiety. In this crisis, she needs help—emotional, financial, and practical. Instead, she is offered only one option— state funded abortion, which is presented as the only rational, reasonable solution to her situation. This results in a young life ending, and a woman experiencing fear, pain, bleeding, and frequently a lifetime of regret for this decision. Should a woman change her mind at the last minute in an abortion clinic (which is a part of the billion dollar abortion industry), she is refused the return of her money and is urged to proceed with the abortion by way of misleading, soothing information that there are no medical or psychological consequences to an abortion. Compassion and understanding are in short supply. All the clinic wants is the payment in order to maintain its profits.
Adding to this crisis, many women experience pressure from others, such as their husbands, partners, friends, and their family. According to a study in BioMed Central Psychiatry, published on October 26, 2023, 24% of women experience such pressure. The study also disclosed that post abortion depression is highly prevalent in women. In another study, dated May 11, 2023, published in the prestigious scientific journal, Cureus, a majority of women who had abortions (60%) would have carried the baby to term if they had received more support from others and had felt more financial security. One fourth of women in the study described the abortion as either unwanted or coerced.
A brilliant solution to this nightmare for pregnant women has recently materialized in Italy under pro-life Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The abortion law was amended on April 23, 2024, to provide as follows:
The State guarantees the right to conscious and responsible procreation, recognizes the social value of motherhood and protects human life from its origin (…) The State, the regions and local authorities, within the scope of their functions and competencies, [will] promote and develop social and health services, as well as other initiatives necessary to prevent that abortion be used for the purpose of limiting births.
Importantly, this law provides that Italian hospitals, where abortions are performed, will henceforth be required to set aside a “room for life”, where pro-life counselling groups, who are qualified and experienced in supporting maternity, will work within the hospital to offer their services to pregnant women. These “rooms for life” will help by various means, such as allowing the mother to listen to the baby’s heartbeat and, above all, as environments to support and listen to pregnant women and their needs, in the context of a general plan to help them during and after pregnancy. No longer will a women feel obliged to interrupt the pregnancy because of a lack of resources. The amendment also states that this service for women will not cause a financial burden on the State, since it will be provided by voluntary experienced pro-life organizations.
Prime Minister Meloni stated that this law seeks to provide women with help by assisting them in a concrete way to make a more informed and humane decision.
Additionally, the Meloni government has passed legislation providing that physicians not be required to perform abortions if it is contrary to their conscience. At present, 63.4% of physicians in Italy and 85% of physicians in Sicily refuse to perform abortions on the basis of conscience.
There is also another very practical reason behind this amendment. According to World Bank Statistics, in 2022, Italy had a birth rate of 1.2 children per woman of child-bearing age. It is the third lowest birth rate in Europe. Only Malta (1.1) and Spain (1.2) have lower birth rates. Italy’s future has been gravely diminished because of its low births, leading to a growing number of older people with fewer taxpayers to pay for their pensions and health care. Already, some Italian farmlands are left fallow because no one is available to work them. Some manufacturers predict they will soon close, lacking workers to keep them operating. Canada’s birth rate is not much better than that of Italy. It is the lowest in our history: in 2022, it was 1.3 children. Italy, at least, is trying to do something to increase the number of births as well as help women. Let us hope that Italy will establish a precedent with these innovative, life-affirming, hospital “rooms for life” and that other countries will follow suit.