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Italian Doctors: Abortion Survivors Must be Given Care, Even Against Mother's Wishes

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman

ROME, February 6, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Doctors from four different Roman universities have issued a joint declaration affirming the duty of doctors to rescue and care for infants born alive after an abortion attempt, even against the wishes of the mother.

The declaration, made by doctors at the obstetric clinics of La Sapienza, Tor Vergata, Campus Biomedico and Sacro Cuore, represent both the secular and religious sides of the Italian university system.  The first two universities are public, and the second two are Catholic.

"An extremely premature newborn must be treated like any other person in danger, and assisted adequately," said Domenico Arduni, director of the Tor Vergata gynecological clinic.

Arduini added that this principle would hold even if the child had survived an abortion, and "even if the mother is not in agreement."

The four physicians issued the statement together during a meeting at Fatebenefratelli hospital in Rome last Saturday. 

According to the Spanish publication El Pais, the doctors' declaration and the Vatican's recent campaign for a "moratorium" on abortion in Italy (which has now become a global campaign), "has fallen like a bomb among scientists and politicians".

Emma Bonino, the Italian Minister of European Policy, complained to El Pais that "the political class should not allow others to set their agenda."  The Italian health minister, Livia Turco, told the publication that protecting the life of such children was "senseless cruelty."  A prominent physician reportedly suggested that abortions be done by poisoning the baby with potassium chloride, thus ensuring his death before exiting the womb.

However, the ANSA news agency reports that the liberal bioethicist Cinzia Caporale has endorsed the physicians' declaration, stating that while she is in favor of allowing euthanasia for adults who want it, children who leave the womb alive should be cared for, even against the will of the parents.  "I don't even consider their consent necessary if the fetus has survived an abortion," she said.

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