Law n. 194, 18th May 1978, hlffiS forty: a positive record overall, despite lingering hurdles

The authors take stock ofa 2018 report to the ltalian Parliament by the ltalian Ministry ofHealth, highlighting how hard it stili is for ltaly to guarantee access to abortion services 40 years after the enactment of law n. 194/78. Despite constantly declining abortion rates, use of emergency contraception methods is on the rise, which leads to endometrial alterations and prevent the fertilized embryo from lodging into the matemal~womb, resulting in the forrner 's destruction. The paper aims to explore the issue of conscientious objection to abortion, seeking to strike a balance between the doctors' right to object and the women' s right to pregnancy terrnination. The authors set forth a reasonably feasible solution: amending the current legislation so that objeçting physicians would be compelled to abide by new rules, such as the so-cali ed duty to refer, Le. an obligation for such doctors to refer a patient seeking abortion services to another specialist or medicai facilities willing to provide it; various nations already have similar provisions and mandates in piace.