Catholic Beliefs Cast Shadow Over Italian Abortions

LONDON, May 1, 2008 — -- "The young woman is a Romanian immigrant," said Dr. Mirella Paraghini, a gynecologist at San Filippo Neri hospital in Rome. "Her fetus is very malformed, but the doctors told her she has to keep it anyway."

That's not an unusual story in Italy, were seven out of 10 gynecologists refuse to perform abortions. In the southern region of Sicily, the number reaches 84 percent, according to the Italian Ministry of Health.

Law 194, which legalized abortion in 1978, allows doctors to claim "conscientious objection" to avoid having to carry out the procedure.

In a country where the majority of the hospitals are named after saints, many doctors, citing the Roman Catholic moral and religious code, decline to do abortions. Others refuse a task they consider psychologically demanding and professionally isolating.

In 1995, Pope John Paul II wrote an encyclical letter to Catholic bishops, reiterating the church's stance on the controversial subject. Titled "The Gospel of Life," the letter declared abortion to be murder.

"Direct abortion, that is, abortion willed as an end or as a means, always constitutes a grave moral disorder, since it is the deliberate killing of an innocent human being," he wrote.

Dr. Giovanni Scambia, at the Hospital Agostino Gemelli in Rome, refuses to perform abortions.

"I am a Catholic, and I believe that a life is born from the very moment of conception," he said in an interview with ABC News. "Also, recent studies have discovered that the fetus is capable of perceiving the mother's emotions and sensing the outside world. Why should I kill it?"

Not all who refuse to do abortions adhere to Catholic principles or have moral issues.

"The few who accept to perform terminations are trapped in this role and never get enough credits to be promoted," said Maura Cossutts, Health Ministry counselor.

Defending careers or feeling the pressure of a system that is generally against it causes many doctors to think twice before ending a pregnancy.

One gynecologist who spoke anonymously to ABC News said he now refuses to perform abortions after years of actively campaigning for the right to end a pregnancy.