Italian Regional Governments Try to Stop RU-486 Distribution
While I pray they succeed, it is still a disgrazia that abortion is legal at all in Italia.
Three Italian Regional Governments Move to Block Abortion Drug RU-486
By Hilary White
ROME, April 6, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Following last month’s regional elections, several newly elected regional heads around Italy have moved to block the sale of the abortion drug, RU-486. Three regional presidents have said that the use of the drug violates the standing abortion law, Law 194, that allows only surgical abortions, carried out in hospitals.
In the north, the new governor of Piedmont, Roberto Cota, has launched an offensive against the sale of the deadly abortion drug RU-486, saying it would “rot in the warehouse” before he allowed it to be distributed. “I am in defense of life,” he said, “and therefore, unlike the [former president of Piedmont] Bresso, am not for a casual use [of abortion] not involving hospitalization.” Cota said that he would wait for “clear guidelines” from the Ministry of Health. He cited Law 194 that calls for women to be given adequate support to prevent abortion.
The governor-elect of Veneto, Luca Zaia, declared that no hospital in his region will administer the drug. “It banalizes the trauma of abortion, leaves women by themselves and makes young people less responsible,” he said.
In Lazio, the region that includes Rome and Vatican City, the new regional president, Renata Polverini, said that the law should be observed. “There is a law, 194, which must be respected. I'm pro-life and will do whatever is necessary to defend it within the law,” she said.
The opposition comes as the first shipments of RU-486 began to arrive at hospitals in Milan and Pisa. In his homily for Holy Thursday, Pope Benedict XVI, warned Christians not to accept legalized abortion in any form: “It is important Christians not to accept a wrong that is enshrined in law -- for example the killing of innocent unborn children.”
In July last year, the manufacturer of the drug in Europe, Exelgyn, told the Italian Ministry of Health and the Pharmaceuticals Agency (AIFA) that the drug had been associated with the deaths of 29 women. To date, eight women in the U.S. have died after using RU 486, two in England, and one each in Canada, Sweden and France. Despite this information, however, AIFA approved the drug, sold under the brand name Mifegyne, for use in Italy, a move strongly backed by the far left opposition parties.
Left-leaning politicians have decried the attempt to block RU-486, calling such attempts a “return to a new Middle Ages” and an “obscurantist crusade waged against women.”
AIFA has been determined to approve the drug, despite a report in its own magazine in 2007 on the deaths of 9 women associated with the drug. AIFA also admitted to receiving a 2008 study, published in the Italian Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, that reported 16 maternal deaths associated with RU 486. This report also cited the higher rates of complications associated with chemical abortions.
According to the permission of the AIFA, the drug may only be administered in a hospital and, for the moment, is prohibited for sale in pharmacies. There are no national guidelines on its distribution and to date only six regions have legislated on it: Emilia Romagna, Lombardy, Piedmont, Tuscany, Veneto and the Autonomous Province of Trento.Last November, the Italian Senate attempted to block the sale of the drug, citing safety issues.
By Hilary White
ROME, April 6, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Following last month’s regional elections, several newly elected regional heads around Italy have moved to block the sale of the abortion drug, RU-486. Three regional presidents have said that the use of the drug violates the standing abortion law, Law 194, that allows only surgical abortions, carried out in hospitals.
In the north, the new governor of Piedmont, Roberto Cota, has launched an offensive against the sale of the deadly abortion drug RU-486, saying it would “rot in the warehouse” before he allowed it to be distributed. “I am in defense of life,” he said, “and therefore, unlike the [former president of Piedmont] Bresso, am not for a casual use [of abortion] not involving hospitalization.” Cota said that he would wait for “clear guidelines” from the Ministry of Health. He cited Law 194 that calls for women to be given adequate support to prevent abortion.
The governor-elect of Veneto, Luca Zaia, declared that no hospital in his region will administer the drug. “It banalizes the trauma of abortion, leaves women by themselves and makes young people less responsible,” he said.
In Lazio, the region that includes Rome and Vatican City, the new regional president, Renata Polverini, said that the law should be observed. “There is a law, 194, which must be respected. I'm pro-life and will do whatever is necessary to defend it within the law,” she said.
The opposition comes as the first shipments of RU-486 began to arrive at hospitals in Milan and Pisa. In his homily for Holy Thursday, Pope Benedict XVI, warned Christians not to accept legalized abortion in any form: “It is important Christians not to accept a wrong that is enshrined in law -- for example the killing of innocent unborn children.”
In July last year, the manufacturer of the drug in Europe, Exelgyn, told the Italian Ministry of Health and the Pharmaceuticals Agency (AIFA) that the drug had been associated with the deaths of 29 women. To date, eight women in the U.S. have died after using RU 486, two in England, and one each in Canada, Sweden and France. Despite this information, however, AIFA approved the drug, sold under the brand name Mifegyne, for use in Italy, a move strongly backed by the far left opposition parties.
Left-leaning politicians have decried the attempt to block RU-486, calling such attempts a “return to a new Middle Ages” and an “obscurantist crusade waged against women.”
AIFA has been determined to approve the drug, despite a report in its own magazine in 2007 on the deaths of 9 women associated with the drug. AIFA also admitted to receiving a 2008 study, published in the Italian Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, that reported 16 maternal deaths associated with RU 486. This report also cited the higher rates of complications associated with chemical abortions.
According to the permission of the AIFA, the drug may only be administered in a hospital and, for the moment, is prohibited for sale in pharmacies. There are no national guidelines on its distribution and to date only six regions have legislated on it: Emilia Romagna, Lombardy, Piedmont, Tuscany, Veneto and the Autonomous Province of Trento.Last November, the Italian Senate attempted to block the sale of the drug, citing safety issues.
Read related LSN coverage:
Virulent Pro-Abortion Candidate Widely Supported by Catholics in Rome’s Provincial Election
Virulent Pro-Abortion Candidate Widely Supported by Catholics in Rome’s Provincial Election
posted by Al @ 12:06 AM
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