Italy’s PM proposes bill to assist disadvantaged pregnant women who choose life

Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has proposed a “maternity income” bill aimed at providing financial assistance to pregnant women who qualify for it and choose life for their babies.

According to Catholic News Agency, the bill would provide 1,000 euros, the equivalent of $1,082, for five years to Italian women who refuse abortion but are facing financial challenges. That amount would increase by 50 euros ($54) per month with the second child and 100 euros ($108) up to the age of 18 if the child has a disability. The goal is to reduce the number of abortions that women are having due to the pressure of finances under Article 5 of Italy’s Law 194, which states:

In all cases, in addition to guaranteeing the necessary medical examinations, counselling centres and medicosocial agencies shall be required, especially when the request for termination of pregnancy is motivated by the impact of economic, social, or family circumstances upon the pregnant women’s health, to examine possible solutions to the problems in consultation with the woman and, where the woman consents, with the father of the conceptus, with due respect for the dignity and personal feelings of the woman and the person named as the father of the conceptus, to help her to overcome the factors which would lead her to have her pregnancy terminated, to enable her to take advantage of her rights as a working woman and a mother, and to encourage any suitable measures designed to support the woman, by providing her with all necessary assistance both during her pregnancy and after the delivery.

To fund the program, 600 million euros ($649 million) will be put into a maternity income fund. Women must be citizens and meet certain financial criteria in order to qualify.

READ: French president Macron insults Italy as abortion is omitted from G7 summit’s final declaration

Sen. Maurizio Gasparri of the Forza Italia political party promoted the bill saying that it’s “not only moral but also financial” support for women who overcome the financial pressure to have an abortion. “Let’s defend life!” he wrote on X.

Abortion has been legal in Italy since 1978 through the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, and through all 40 weeks if the woman’s health or life is said to be in danger (induced abortion — the direct and intentional killing of a preborn child is not necessary even to save a woman’s health or life.) Though Meloni, the first female prime minister in the country’s history, has said she will not change that law, she hopes this new bill will “guarantee women the possibility of choosing an alternative, offering an active role by public institutions in order to remove the financial causes that can push a woman to abort.”

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