Italians decide boundaries of assisted fertility
Italian voters today faced an intensely debated decision on assisted fertility in the second day of a referendum on proposals that would end a ban on embryo research and on donation of eggs and sperm.
Turnout was low yesterday, and thin numbers today could doom the referendum proposals. The vote results won’t count unless voter turnout is at least 50%-plus one of the electorate.
The vote was widely seen as a test of the Roman Catholic Church’s influence in the overwhelmingly Catholic nation. Italian cardinals and bishops – endorsed by Pope Benedict XVI – urged citizens to boycott the two-day vote, hoping the ballot initiatives would fall short of the required quorum to be valid.
By the end of the first day of voting, turnout was at 18.7%, according to the Interior Ministry. Some referendum advocates had earlier estimated turnout would have to be nearly double that on the first day to succeed by the end of the two-day vote.
Polling stations reopened at 7am (6am Irish time) today, with voting allowed until 3pm. (2pm Irish time). That gave many Italians who headed out of town over the weekend, to beaches or the countryside, time to get back and vote.
The German-born Pope has contended the efforts to overturn parts of the law regulating assisted fertility methods posed threats to life and the family. Italian politicians were split, with parties generally telling their voters to decide according to their conscience.
Widespread abstention would doom the efforts to throw out several provisions of the tough law, including one that prohibits egg or sperm donation from outside the couple and another banning scientific research using human embryos.
A recent poll found that nearly two-thirds of Italians thought religious leaders should not try to influence government decisions. And in random interviews, many denounced the Vatican’s appeal as invasive.
Deputy Premier Gianfranco Fini said he would vote “yes” on some issues, but would oppose a proposal that would allow egg and sperm donation from outside the couple.
Premier Silvio Berlusconi did not say if or how he would vote. President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi was among the early voters, but did not say how he cast his ballot.
Chamber of Deputies President Pier Ferdinando Casini, a former Christian Democrat, favoured the boycott, saying Italians who abstained were not “minor league citizens”.
Roman Catholic teaching is opposed to assisted procreation and scientific research on human embryonic stem cells, and the Vatican wants to maintain the restrictions of the current law.
Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the Pope’s vicar for Rome and president of the Italian bishops’ conference, reiterated his appeal last week, saying that the Vatican was looking to “enlighten consciences” and defend life.
Opponents of the legislation say the law is too restrictive and prevents research to treat diseases. They have enlisted women celebrities to urge people to repeal parts of the legislation.
Until the current law took effect last year, Italy had a reputation as a country which pushed the limits of assisted fertility, with post-menopausal women in their 60s giving birth thanks to hormone treatment and egg donation.
The current law limits the number of embryos that can be created to three, forbids sperm or egg donation from outside the couple and prohibits scientific research using embryos.
The referendum asks voters whether Italy should end all those limitations, as well as permit fertile couples with hereditary diseases to screen their embryos.
Many contend the Vatican’s campaign amounts to interference in the country’s domestic affairs. In a series of interviews over the past weeks, prominent cardinals have defended Ruini’s appeal and rejected the accusations.
But Italians have defied the church in two referendums considered milestones for Italian society: Divorce was upheld in 1974 and abortion in 1981. The latter vote dealt a blow to the late Pope John Paul II, who campaigned vigorously against abortion.
Opponents of the law have argued that the wealthy will travel to countries which allow the techniques like freezing while less affluent couples will be shut out of such possibilities.
