Italy's health and drugs authorities' recent approval of abortion drug mifepristone (Ru486) has drawn protests from the Catholic Church.It has threatened to excommunicate doctors who administer the drug, which is already available in almost all other European Union countries.
The Italian drug agency ruled after a meeting that ended late Thursday that the drug cannot be sold in drug stores but can only be administered by doctors in a hospital.
The agency said the pill can only be taken up to the seventh week of pregnancy.
"Whoever practises abortion with the drug and prescribes it will be excommunicated, like those who perform surgical abortions," the former head of the Pontifical Academy for Life, Monsignor Elio Sgreccia, told Adnkronos.
"We are talking about chemical abortion, which deserves censure. What is worse is that the drug is encouraging abortion by making it easier and faster," Sgreccia added.
"The whole moral responsibility falls upon the woman who is forced to 'handle' a tragic moment alone."
Women who find themselves with unwanted pregnancies needed to be helped, Sgreccia said, urging greater "respect for life".
It remains to be seen how many Italian doctors will administer the abortion drug. About 70 percent describe themselves as 'conscientious objectors' who refuse to carry out abortions in their clinics or hospitals, according to Italy's health ministry.
The abortion drug was developed in France in the early 1980s and introduced there almost two decades ago. But approval in Italy has been held up by the Catholic Church, which opposes abortion and contraception.
Abortion has been legal in Italy since 1978 in the first 90 days of pregnancy and until the 24th week if the life of the mother is at risk or the fetus is malformed.
Italy allows surgical abortions in hospitals and the use of the morning-after pill. Critics of the abortion drug say some women are bound to use it at home without medical assistance.
Women's rights groups and Italy's Association for Demographic Education (AIED) welcomed the drugs' approval.
"We are coming in line with other European countries and making up for a delay that has penalised Italian women," AIED said in a statement.
The ruling was also welcomed by Silvio Viale, the Italian doctor who first used the drug experimentally in a hospital in the northern Italian city of Turin and has campaigned for the pill to be authorised.
"It's a victory for Italian women who today are freer," he said. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to us or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that we agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
SIC: AKI