Italians are voting today and tomorrow (Sunday and Monday) in a national referendum on bioethics issues. They must decide whether they want to lift the following restrictions:
- a ban on donor sperm and eggs;
- a ban on scientific research on embryos;
- a ban on embryo screening for couples with hereditary diseases;
- the rule that only three embryos per treatment can be created, all of which have to be implanted at the same time.
All these bans and restrictions was put in a law passed last year by the Berlusconi government and contested by women’s groups and the Radical party which managed to collect 4 million signatures to call for the referendum.
The Vatican has come strongly against that new change, and has called for Italians to boycott the vote (which requires a 50% participation rate for the law to be changed). This will thus be a test of their influence on Italian politics:
Mr Berlusconi has not indicated whether and how he will vote, and opposition leader and former EU Commission President Romano Prodi has only said he will vote, without specifying which way.
They have been strong enough to scare politicians, but will they scare voters?
is crossposted on the European Tribune.
Starting tomorrow, most of these stories will be only on European Tribune!
What is the prediction?
I take it that it is not possible to view Eurotrib yet.
on this. Towards the end is a little snippet from Reuters:
Emphasis mine.
Yeah, that’ll work.
Calling for a boycott instead of calling for a NO vote proves the Vatican’s political weakness. Were they convinced of their capacity to influence a majority of Italians, they would have called them to vote NO. Instead, they are reduced to mingle with those who abstain from voting for other reasons…
It also shows the Vatican’s vision of democracy…
M.
how the Vatican remains immune from complaints by the Italian government of illegal interference in the affairs of a foreign government ?
If I were Italian, I would be seriously considering revoking the Concordat that made the Vatican a seperate state.
Now that was a brilliant observation…
BBC is reporting that Pres. Carlo Azeglio Ciampi was among the early voters and opposition leader Romano Prodi and Deputy Prime Minister Gianfranco Finiand and their families will vote. Excellent, healthy sign, I hope.
I had a diary up last week on this which largely illustrated the political aspects of the referendum.
Let me make a few points on what the referendum is about.
There are four questions to vote on. A “Yes” vote abrogates the most controversial commas of Law 40 on assisted procreation.
1) Scientific research on embryos. Law 40 forbids research on embryos and staminal cells produced with embryos. Embryos can not be conserved with the technique of crio-conservation. A “Yes” vote will re-admit scientific research on embryos while keeping a ban on cloning and genetic manipulation.
2) Only sterile couples who have tried all other possible means of procreation have a right to assisted procreation. A “Yes” vote will allow all non-sterile couples to have assistance for reasons such as age, hereditary defects or infective diseases. A woman will also have the right to refuse an embryo that has genetic defects. At present only three embryos are permitted to be created by law, and the woman is obligated to implant all three of them regardless of their genetic patrimony.
3) The most controversial question. Law 40 establishes that an embryo has the same rights as a viable human being. It’s nice to know that an undistinguished mass of eight or sixteen cells with no hint of a neuron has my same rights or more so, since a woman is obligated by law to accept it. If this question is defeated, this opens the door to the Vatican’s primary objective: abolishing the law on abortion.
4) With Law 40, a couple cannot use spermatozoa or ovules from another person. A “Yes” vote will allow the possibility for a couple to resort to other donors.
As of 22 hours when the voting booths closed on Sunday, 18,7% of the voting population had voted. Voting today, Monday, is from 7 AM to 3 PM.
The main issue is the quorum.