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  • Title: Italy: abortion and nationalized health care.
    Author: Mori M.
    Journal: Hastings Cent Rep; 1984 Dec; 14(6):22-3. PubMed ID: 6511373.
    Abstract:
    Most of the recent public and scholarly interest in Italy concerning bioethical issues has centered on abortion, general reform of the health care system, and deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill. Medical decisions are thought to concern technical rather than moral issues, and are generally left to physicians. Although ethics is a formal part of the medical curriculum only in Catholic universities, physicians have recently shown more of an interest in bioethical issues, as have philosophers. At present, however, the author is aware of only one non-Catholic institution that is devoted to the study of ethical questions in medicine. The issue of biomedical ethics has received increasing attention in Italy in recent years as a result of the new abortion law and general reforms of the health care system. The abortion debate had a tremendous impact on social conscience. The 1978 abortion law, which was confirmed in a 1982 referendum, encountered strong opposition from the Catholic Church and the profile movement on the 1 side and from the Radical Party on the other side. The law assumes the immorality of abortion, but seeks to correct the social disruption created by a high rate of clandestine abortions. There has also been extensive debate about the nationalized health plan that went into effect in 1978, guaranteeing free medical assistance to every citizen. There is concern about the costs of this program and the inefficient organization of some hospitals; however, trade unions and left-wing parties strongly defend the right to free health care. There has been little sustained interest in topics such as euthanasia and allocation of scarce medical resources. In general, bioethical issues are considered technical problems for physicians. Medical decisions are regarded as technical rather than moral ones, and physicians are considered to be most competent to make them. Although state medical schools do not offer courses in ethics, medical codes and life-sustaining treatment have been debated at medical congresses. Finally, the discussion of ethics is assuming a more interdisciplinary nature, with participation from scientists as well as historians and philosophers.
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