RT Article
T1 Between the Church and the State: Catholic and European Influences on Abortion Governance in Italy and Beyond
JF Journal of religion in Europe
VO 17
IS 3
SP 262
OP 292
A1 Pullan, Danielle
A1 Gannon, Payton
A2 Gannon, Payton
LA English
YR 2024
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1903424321
AB Supranational cultural institutions and communities play an interesting role in the development of abortion policy both historically and today. In this article we consider two such institutions: the Catholic Church and the European community. The church is famously antiabortion, and we describe the ways in which the Catholic position manifests itself in different countries. Conversely, almost all European countries have liberal laws that allow abortion on demand for twelve weeks of pregnancy. Italy sits at the intersection of European and Catholic identities. Italy adopted European-style liberal abortion laws early, but Italians continue to identify with the church in surveys, which is one of the causes of high levels of conscientious objection by medical professionals. Italy’s abortion policy pleases neither Catholics nor secularists. We explain this by understanding Italy’s abortion law as liberal de jure, but its culture is still heavily influenced by Catholicism, resulting in limited abortion access de facto.
K1 religion in politics
K1 Latin America
K1 Italy
K1 European Union
K1 Catholicism
K1 abortion governance
DO 10.1163/18748929-bja10107