Finally we can say it, the women of San Marino can say it: San Marino decriminalizes abortion after years of struggle. Since last September’s referendum had a majority “yes” calling for a change in the state of affairs, the historic turning point had already arrived, but the law was still missing. The process is now complete and the San Marino Parliament has approved the final text, marking the victory of freedom of choice.

Abortion in San Marino, 18 years of trying

When Law 194 was passed in Italy in 1978 legalizing IVG, abortion remained illegal in the small independent state between Emilia-Romagna and the Marche. Until now, women who decided to terminate their pregnancy were threatened with 3 to 6 years in prison, and in order to obtain an abortion, they had to apply to Italian structures to pay for the service. “Articles of the criminal code that effectively prohibit abortion date back to 1865.”explained Karen Pruccoli, member of the Women’s Union of San Marino. Corriere della Sera, “They were approved in the fascist era, as in Italy the Rocco code was approved, and then reaffirmed in 1974. Then Italy regulated abortion in 1978 and San Marino took a turn the other way, the rules remained, leading to no condemnation, of which there is no recent memory.” In 2003, 18 years ago, there was the first attempt to change something, the same in 2014, 2017 and 2019.

Referendum

In the spring of 2021, the San Marino Women’s Union, along with other feminist groups, began collecting signatures demanding a referendum on this issue. Voting took place on September 26 last year., the text stated: “You want a woman to be allowed to voluntarily terminate a pregnancy during the twelfth week of pregnancy, and also thereafter if there is a danger to the life of the woman or if there are anomalies and malformations of the fetus that involve a serious risk to physical or psychological woman’s health? The “Yes” victory was overwhelming, marking a real turning point with 11,119 “yes” votes and 3,265 “no” votes out of 14,384 voters.

Law

After winning the referendum, the Parliament of San Marino needed to pass a new law and change the penal code. The process was not immediate, despite the fact that the referendum question was “presupposing or guiding” in nature, that is, it already contained the principles and criteria that parliament had to follow when passing laws. Just last Wednesday, 31 August 2022, the new law was passed by 32 votes to 7, with 10 abstentions. the inclusion of the possibility of an abortion “without obligation to explain the reason” during the twelfth week of pregnancy. Pregnancy can be terminated later, in the event of a threat to life or a serious risk to the health of the woman, abnormalities in the development of the fetus, rape or incest. In addition, the law introduces counseling centers where underage girls can access emergency contraception without parental permission or prescription, sex education programs in schools, and certain corrective measures for conscientious objection to military service, such as a ban on , for doctors who elect them to the public, to carry out voluntary termination of pregnancy in self-employment. Finally, the new text establishes the prosecution of professionals who provide false information in order to dissuade women from requesting an abortion, and establishes, as a principle, the protection of “a woman’s dignity from any moral judgment or psychological pressure regarding personal choices or her intention to use the stipulated procedures or measures.