[ad_1]
It can happen in Italy in 2020 that a woman aborts and, without her knowledge, the fetus is taken from the hospital, transported to the cemetery and buried with a religious rite, with the “mother’s name and surname” written on a cross, along with the abortion. Then Marta accidentally discovered a grave in her name, or rather, in the name of her son.
In a post on Facebook, with more than 10,000 shares, Marta turns on the lights of a practice that can affect any woman who has undergone an abortion. And that didn’t spare even Francesca, whose difficult history of drug abortion started the #innomeditutte campaign on abortions denied on the pages of Espresso. First anonymously, Francesca told us about her ordeal and now, after having suffered a second violence, she did not hold back, explaining what happened to her.
The malformed fetus, the urgency of a therapeutic interruption of pregnancy. The beginning of a calvary made of humiliation, silence, contempt. In Rome: where there are 5 non-objectionable doctors for 3 million inhabitants
Behind it all, religious associations
But this is not a modern story, it is at least twenty years long. It was born in 1999 together with Difendere la vita con Maria (Advm), a voluntary association of Novara, which among the first began to make agreements with hospitals and municipalities on what the law defines as “abortifacient products”, what remains after an abortion, whether therapeutic, spontaneous or, as in most cases, a voluntary termination of pregnancy (Ivg). First in Italy, the Advm establishes the cemetery of “unborn children” in the Piedmont province.
The activity of the association takes advantage, albeit legally, of a couple of not too strict rules regarding burial and disposal of hospital waste. On the other hand, it has the support – or at least it finds ideal partners – from Italian hospitals, local health authorities and dozens of municipalities in Italy, with which it stipulates protocols to access hospitals and subsequently bury fetuses in particular. spaces within cemeteries, called “Gardens of the angels”. The will of the woman does not matter. To date, the Advm alone has carried out more than 200,000 burials: how many of these have been requested by women?
What the legislation provides
The art. 7 of the Mortuary Police Regulations of 1990 distinguishes three possible cases in case of abortion: stillborn babies (over 28 weeks), in this case burial is always carried out; “Abortive products”, those of presumed gestation age between 20 and 28 weeks and fetuses that are 28 weeks of intrauterine age, which are responsible for burial in common field with permits issued by the local health unit, and “products of the conception ”, which is presumed to be less than 20 weeks old, is considered a special hospital waste (because it is not recognizable), so it is not intended for burial, but for thermal destruction (not cremation).
Although on the latter case in some regions, such as Lombardy, Campania and Marche, a further step has been taken, taking advantage of the more or less advanced recognition criteria, which would allow, even if the fetus is less than 20 weeks old, that it is not discarded as sanitary waste, but there is an obligation to bury it. In general, the practice is that for abortifacient and conception products “family members or those who are obliged to submit, within 24 hours after the expulsion or extraction of the fetus, a request for burial.”
How religious associations work
After 24 hours, if no request is made, all rights expire. At that time religious associations come into play that, thanks to agreements with hospitals, have the “product of abortion” or “conception”, with the freedom to bury it according to a religious ceremony. People linked to the association go to the rectors, then the funeral takes place: processions with the hearse, in which passages of Sacred Scripture are read, accompanied by blessings and prayers that no one is aware of and in which they freely participate , in addition to the priest, volunteers and believers.
This is possible because the voluntary association first requests to be recognized within the National Health Service, and then impersonates the “who for them” required by law. The Advm is present in more than a hundred municipalities, has more than three thousand members and has 60 local offices. It promotes “the culture of life, the rights of the fetus and the act of mercy for the burial of the fetus, in collaboration with health institutions and the pastoral care of life.” It is financed through donations: “With only 20 euros you can assume the cost of burying an unborn child,” reads the website. But she’s not the only one.
There is the Pope John XXIII Community, founded in 68 by Don Oreste Benzi, and the Armata Bianca, an “ecclesial movement whose primary purpose is the spiritual care of children”, which instead distinguishes between IVG and spontaneous abortion. , explains: “given the fact that most people are unaware that children can and should be buried, it was decided to inform the procedure to follow: at the request of the parents: for the individual burial of naturally aborted children; at the request of the Movement: for the burial of children as a result of the voluntary interruption of pregnancy “. And it is open to anyone” who wants to commit themselves to this work of mercy and this testimony of faith, because life is sacred from the beginning. conception”.
L‘support from hospitals and municipalities
Everything is legal and required by regulations. The scheme provides for agreements with both hospitals and municipalities. Pre-defined memorandums of understanding in which the associations commit, with an agreed deadline, to go to hospitals and collect the fetuses in special biodegradable containers. In this way the hospital company gets rid of some expenses: transport and burial authorizations, containers and boxes for burial, burial, maintenance and decoration of the area (such as flower care, garden and cleaning). The Municipality makes the dedicated area, the excavations and works, and the operators of the cemetery that take care of the burial available free of charge. It is not known exactly how many fetuses are in cemeteries in Italy. Jennifer Guerra, a journalist for La Visión, tried to map them, counting up to thirty.
Disinformation to the detriment of women
“Forget it are things that do not interest you.” Francesca felt this response when she asked: “But what happens now?”, In the delivery room, after a medical abortion in the sixth month due to serious malformations of the fetus, in excruciating pain, without epidurals and total abandonment by the doctors.
Even if he wanted to, no one would have explained to him that he had the right to ask for a burial or to refuse it. Of course they haven’t told you that everything can end with a cross in your city’s cemetery, with your first and last name written on it. In the absence of norms on privacy and constitutional law. It happened to Francesca at the Flaminio Cemetery in Rome, to Marta at the Laurentino Cemetery, established in 2012. First and last names are within the Capitoline Cemeteries system, simply type to discover a square, a row and a hole, complete with a map on how to get there.
But how many women are informed of what is happening? It is not known how many burials in total there are, and especially how many of them were requested. Because even if they don’t all end up with a name on the cross, how many women want a religious service that they haven’t asked for? In the informed consent forms in the case of IVG, the aftermath of the burial is hardly mentioned. Presumably the information is given verbally, if it does, in other cases everything remains obscure. Without protocol, or obligation of information, everything depends on the luck or not of those who are on your way.
Pregnancy terminations are decreasing, but conscientious objectors are not. And too often abortion becomes torture. That is why we open this space to collect your testimonies, so that each story becomes that of all women.
The pro-life movements
“City for life”, “municipality in support of life and family”, “abortion not as a contraceptive method”. With these formulas dozens of pro-life motions are approved in the municipalities. Entirely promoted by right-wing parties, in particular Lega and Fratelli d’Italia, in recent years they have found fertile ground: intrinsic documents of anti-abortion ideologies, which at the same time approve the financing of pro-life associations or allow the pro-family counseling in public access. Imperia, Turin, Genoa, Cremona, Caserta, Trento, Treviso, Venice, Busto Arsizio, Biella, the last Marsala, in Sicily, this August. They are few: starting from the north twenty years ago, in recent years the associations have pointed south.
The Guarantor initiates an investigation. Protest of radicals and associations
Now, after Marta’s case, maybe something is moving. the Guarantor for the protection of personal data has decided to open an investigation. The radicals who have already tabled parliamentary questions in the past in this regard promise a battle. And Difference Woman, a Rome association that has always been at the forefront, promises collective legal action.
In hospitals, a kind of pact is consummated every day between parties, religious associations on the one hand and public health, which on paper should be secular, on the other. It is always the women who pay. These pro-life and anti-abortion associations, with the false purpose of wanting to meet a public need and provide a service, once again find a way to express their opinion on the decisions of women and their bodies. That’s enough.
