Sexual activity among young people begins earlier and involves a greater number of partners. "This transformation, associated with the postponement of motherhood, leaves women with the management of many years (about 12) during which they must limit the risk of unwanted pregnancies." Despite this, in Italy " the use of abortion is constantly decreasing," so much so that between 1980 and 2022 it fell by 68 percent, going from 208 thousand to just over 65 thousand . Therefore "it does not seem to be used as a means to limit births, but rather as a last resort ."
This is what emerges from the Istat report “Voluntary interruption of pregnancy in a generational perspective” , which also takes stock of the role of counseling centers present in the territory in the support and assistance activity for women who intend to resort to abortion. And, the report underlines, Sardinia is one of the regions where these structures are “little involved” , with regards to the path that leads to the interruption of pregnancy, from the delivery of documents and certificates, number of interviews and post-IVG checks.
CONSULTING CLINICS, THE DATA – In fact, on the Island (2022 data) 1,382 abortions are carried out in one year, but the pre-abortion interviews at family counseling centers between specialists and women who intend to have an abortion are 260, the certificates issued are 221 and the post-abortion interviews are 97 .
For comparison, in Friuli Venezia Giulia, which has fewer inhabitants than Sardinia (1.3 million versus 1.6), out of 1,219 abortions, there were 937 pre-IVG interviews, 692 certificates issued and 612 post-IVG checks.
Yet, Istat points out, «Family Counselling Centres were established in 1975 with Law 9 July 1975, n. 405 which clearly defines their crucial role in all areas concerning women's health , including contraception, pregnancy and abortion. Their strengths are their proximity and spread across the territory, in addition to the multidisciplinary team and an integration between health workers and social workers; this allows women to be taken care of throughout the entire care pathway». But, as mentioned, on the Island, these structures are «little involved» ( precisely in less than 30% of cases ), as happens in Molise, Marche, Abruzzo and Basilicata.
SEX BEFORE THE AGE OF 16 – The Istat report also provides a “photograph” of Italians’ sexuality, especially with regard to the new generations. “The latest data from 2022 show that 21.6 percent of boys and 18.4 percent of girls say they had their first full sexual intercourse before the age of 16. With the use of increasingly effective contraceptive methods, in particular the emergency pill, whose use has grown in Italy, “women are able to partially achieve the goal of reducing unwanted pregnancies, but there is still a long way to go before we can talk about a real contraceptive revolution,” Istat specifies. In particular, compared to the morning-after pill, there was an increase in sales (+79 percent) from 2015 to 2018, thanks to the elimination of the prescription requirement for both adults and minors.
CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTION – The report also addresses the issue of conscientious objector doctors. “The problem remains,” write the Istat researchers, “of conscientious objection: in recent years, the percentage of conscientious objector doctors has decreased and in 2021 it stopped at 63.4 percent. We know that the number of voluntary terminations of pregnancy has instead decreased considerably: between 2005 and 2021, it has more than halved. This can only have reduced the workload of non-conscientious objector gynecologists.”
However, the report concludes, "greater critical issues are more widespread in the central and southern regions of the country, although in only three facilities is the number of 10 abortions per week per gynecologist exceeded: one is in Abruzzo, one in Campania and one in Sicily."
