There is a potentially revolutionary new abortion in Italy, a hot topic here as well as in America, about which women have taken to the streets here and there demanding the right to vote and guarantees of public service. This is the fruit of a crazy and desperate work Claire Lallyprofessor of the history of medicine and deontology at the University of Rome La Sapienza, who, together with Sonia Montegiove, is going to become a valuable information site: www.maidati.it.

Here’s the bet: when the site is completed, predicted by the end of October, it will provide an interactive map of Italy with constantly updated information about the structures that practice. voluntary termination of pregnancy (IVG)provided for in Italy by law 194 of 1978. Chiara Lalli has already described the methods and difficulties of finding all the information the site is based on in Never data. Open data (at 194). Because they are ours and because we need to choose them (Fandango) and we will talk about them on October 23rd at the Women’s Legacy festival (from October 21st to 23rd in Florence and online; for information: ditadeldonne.eu) organized by Elastica. under the artistic direction of Serena Dandini.

Chiara Lalli, why is it important to start with data?

This is the minimum necessary condition that determines the difference in our speeches. It is one thing to talk about individual cases of women who decide to have an abortion and their difficulties in understanding where to go for IHV, it is another thing to describe the reality, that is, how law 194 is applied today. We need updated and disaggregated data on regional averages as they are the only staff provided by the Ministry of Health.

Why does data help choose and choose what?

The data we have collected with great difficulty can be used in two ways. A technical aspect of knowledge and a practical aspect that will be useful to women who do not know whether to continue their pregnancy and are looking for information to exercise their right to choose. For example, the data helps to quickly find out which hospitals have an EVG station and where pharmacological abortion is practiced.

You describe in the book the thankless job of finding information, was it so terrible?

We plunged into a real bureaucratic nightmare, wrote to individual hospitals, asked for answers, called, corresponded with the district health department, and then in the region: we asked in what structures IVG is practiced, how many doctors work in gynecological departments, how many people object if they practice medication abortion. Information that, by law, should be transparent and accessible to everyone, but this is not so. Law 194 is 40 years old, and today we have only a blurry picture of its functioning and with updated official data, if all goes well, two years ago.

What aspect of your research surprised you the most?

It was a huge effort, but the big surprise was the heterogeneity of the responses received: from absolute silence to apology emails, from denials in the name of confidentiality (but what privacy, we only asked for numbers, not names of doctors), from those who sent us a link to the report of the ministry with consolidated data by region, to structures that sent us exact lists with the names and surnames of doctors who were not requested. We found structures where 100 percent of doctors object, and our question “How do you manage to guarantee the service?” one of the responses was “You’re right, but what can we do about it,” written on a letterhead. .

You also say in the book that you discovered the existence of non-objectioning gynecologists who don’t practice EVG anyway, right?

Yes it is. I tried to figure out what these numbers were and there are several hypotheses, probably, these are gynecologists involved in ultrasound or other tasks. For the moment, however, the official figures that in Italy 77 percent of gynecologists are objectors should be reconsidered, since in reality those who practice VVG are much less.

But law 194 is clear: what idea did you come up with at the end of your work?

That we have the technology, and we have the law, but there is no law enforcer. Or rather, there was never a desire to use it. Then in some realities everything works, but these are almost exceptions. It’s like a carcass: the casing remains, but it empties silently.

Do you think that the text of 194 should be rewritten today?

I think there are a lot of good parts of the law, like Article 15 which talks about being open to new methodologies, or the part about minors who can go to a judge if they can’t find family support. The real shortcoming of the law is its figurative and very tolerant application, when the service of the IVG should be guaranteed instead. In addition, according to Article 9 of Law 194, if a woman’s health is in danger, conscientious objection to abortion does not apply, and a doctor, even if he objects, cannot avoid an abortion.

Have you received any requests from the female side?

Yes, it is absolutely essential to have complete, correct and up-to-date information.

What could be done specifically?

There are excellent examples in Spain and England. I’m thinking about an institutional information campaign, I’m thinking about training doctors, updating the structures’ websites. And then create toll free numbers and invest in consultants who have the topic of prevention in this area and information in their DNA, including in relation to contraception. In a word, it is really very useful.

Information and figures on abortion in Italy

The most recent data released by the Ministry of Health is for 2020 and compiled in a report sent to Parliament last June. They are aggregated by region, many percentages and little practical information (www.salute.gov.it/portale/documentazione/p6_2_2_1.jsp?lingua=italiano&id=3236).

Individual regions move (and inform) at random: Emilia-Romagna has just announced that abortion pills will also be available free of charge in the region’s counseling centers between October and November of this year. The www.maidati.it website, when fully operational, will collect data and information in 360 degrees, with the ability to view addresses and services offered by individual entities on maps.