RU486 between law 194 and new guidelines on voluntary termination of pregnancy through Mifepristone and prostaglandins

Abstract

The article deals with the recent report of the Minister of Health “implementation of the law containing norms for maternity protection and for the voluntary termination of pregnancy (Law 194/78). Final data 2019 and preliminary data 2020”, published on September 16 2021. In the light of this document, the author addresses the terms of the debate regarding the “guidelines on the voluntary termination of pregnancy with mifepristone and prostaglandins”, published by the Ministry of Health on August 12 2020, by which methods for performing pharmacological abortion using RU486 in Italy have changed. Do they comply with abortion legislation or do they violate it? An adequate answer requires an examination of the ideological currents which are present in Law 194: radical abortionism, collectivism and humanitarianism. The author argues that if we look at the letter of the law there is no doubt that the new guidelines contrast with Law 194, especially in reference to the involvement of consultancies, but at the same time we cannot ignore the fact that in Law 194 there is a hidden radical culture which is manifested in the ministerial guidelines. In any case, the debate on the methods of administering RU486 introduced in August 2020 is an important opportunity to remember that at stake is the right to life of unborn children and the protection of women’s physical and mental health.