“We will not touch the abortion law”: Giorgia Meloni said it over and over again, during the election campaign, when she addressed one of the most divisive ethical issues. Brothers of Italy (and Lega) have hit on one point: the goal is to discourage abortions. The "how" is still to be clarified, even if there has been talk of "economic incentives" and "women who must not feel abandoned by the state" in a "country with one of the lowest birth rates".
THE SARDINIAN DATA. Pending concrete measures, there are numbers to understand the scope of the issue. The most updated are those of 2020, released at the beginning of this year: 1393 abortions were recorded in Sardinia. 8215 children were born. Almost one in seven pregnancies was therefore voluntarily terminated (one point zero below the national average). In a region where just 26 children are born for every 1000 women between the ages of 15 and 49: the lowest ratio in Italy.
THE DECLINE. Over time, the island recorded a sharp decline: in 2007 there were 2247 voluntary abortions. 2385 the following year (that of the peak), then a steady decline began, up to the number of 2020.
WHO? In Sardinia, 950 unmarried and 362 married (and 3 widows) took the drastic decision (again in 2020). The qualification does not count, or counts for little: the graduates who chose not to carry the pregnancy to term were 147, 50 those with the elementary school certificate. All the others are divided equally between middle and high school. And in 2020 they also aborted two girls, under the age of 15.
THE REASONS. Cool statistics. Behind which there are stories of suffering women, psychological dramas, twisted lives. The reasons for the choices? Different, for each one. And all of them have had to do with health care, where objecting doctors are increasing. How many, at the moment it is not known.
