Sicily requires hospitals to hire doctors who perform abortions

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni attends the European Political Community summit in Tirana, Albania, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

ROME - Sicily has passed a law requiring public hospitals to hire doctors who do not object to performing abortions, amid difficulties across Italy in accessing terminations.

The measure was adopted by the assembly of the right-wing-led regional authority on Tuesday, in what its main proponent described as a “historic moment”.

Abortion has been legal in Italy since 1978 but doctors can refuse to perform the procedure by citing conscientious objections.

In practice, this means abortion access can be difficult in many areas of the Catholic-majority country -- including in Sicily.

Of the 55 hospitals on the island with a gynaecology department, abortion is performed in 47 percent of them, below the national average of 61 percent, according to Italy’s health ministry.

In 2022, 61 percent of all gynaecologists across Italy were conscientious objectors, rising to 81.5 percent in Sicily.

The law change was proposed by Dario Safina, a member of the regional assembly for the centre-left Democratic Party, who hailed it as a “historic moment”.

“Our goal is that the right to abortion is real, not just theoretical,” he wrote on Facebook.

“With this rule, we lay the foundation for a health system that is fairer, more efficient and respectful of the rights of all,” he added.

Italy’s far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni opposes abortion but has said she will not change the law.

However, critics accuse her of trying to make it more complicated to obtain one.