San Marino approves legalizing abortion in referendum

Forty-three years after neighboring Italy did, the small republic of San Marino approved by a large majority to legalize abortion in a referendum on Sunday, according to provisional results released by the Interior Ministry.

77.3% of voters in this micro-country with a strong Catholic tradition voted in favor of giving women the free choice of aborting up to 12 weeks of pregnancy and after, in the event of a threat to the mother’s life or malformations detected in the fetus, according to the results, covering 33 of the 37 polling stations

A total of 35,411 voters were called to vote, a third of them abroad. Another anti-abortion stronghold, Gibraltar, relaxed its legislation after a referendum in June.

San Marino, a picturesque mountain-side republic in central Italy, would thus join most of Europe in lifting what is currently an absolute ban on terminating a pregnancy.

The influence of the Catholic Church remains strong and Pope Francis reiterated his inflexible position last week, stating that abortion is “murder.”

Along with Malta, Andorra and the Vatican, San Marino was among the last places in Europe with a total ban on abortion, even in cases of rape or incest, serious damage to the fetus or risk to the life of the mother.

The result was received with celebrations by the San Marino Women’s Union (UDS), which initiated the referendum process and campaigned for “Yes”, against the ruling party and the Catholic Church.

“It is a victory for all the women of San Marino over the conservatives and reactionaries who think that women have no rights,” UDS president Karen Pruccoli told AFP.

“It is a victory against the Catholic Church, who were our adversaries and tried everything to avoid this result,” he added.

“Unacceptable”

The question that San Marinos answered was whether or not abortion should be allowed up to 12 weeks of pregnancy.

With the law approved, from the twelfth week, abortion will only be allowed if the life of the mother is in danger or in case of fetal anomalies that could harm the woman physically or psychologically.

“It is unacceptable to treat women who are forced to abort as criminals,” said Francesca Nicolini, a 60-year-old doctor and member of the UDS.

Currently, abortion carries a penalty of up to three years in prison for the woman and six years for the doctor who performs the procedure. However, no one has ever been convicted.

Women who decide to have an abortion often travel to Italy, where it has been legal for more than 40 years.

Opposition to the decriminalization of abortion has been strong, led by the ruling Christian Democratic Party, closely linked to the Catholic Church. They called for voting no to “defend the right to life.”

The bishop of San Marino-Montefeltro, Andrea Turazzi, noted that the Church is “decidedly against”, recalling the words of Pope Francis last week.

“Scientifically it is a human life. Is it correct to end it to solve a problem? ”The pontiff told reporters on his return from his trip to Slovakia.

Divided population

“The population is very divided on the issue,” said Manuel Ciavatta, undersecretary of the Christian Democratic Party, which has just over a third of the deputies.

“And even in parliament, there are members of progressive parties who are against abortion, and right-wing deputies who are in favor of the right to abortion, especially in cases of rape or fetal abnormalities,” he told AFP.

The abortion ban in San Marino dates back to 1865 and was confirmed both by the fascist regime of the early 20th century and later, in 1974.

Figures recorded in Italy suggest that few women from the small state cross the border to take advantage of abortion laws there.

Between 2005 and 2019, only about twenty of them aborted per year in Italy, a figure that fell to 12 in 2018 and seven in 2019, according to official Istat data cited by anti-abortion activists.