Abortion doc call 'must be withdrawn' (3)

(ANSA) - Rome, February 23 - The president of the Rome order of physicians Giuseppe Lavra has asked Lazio regional governor Nicola Zingaretti to withdraw what he describes as an "unjust" call for two abortion doctors at Rome's San Camillo hospital to solve widespread conscientious objection, it emerged on Thursday. Lavra is also asking the national federation of health orders' central committee to make a pronouncement on the matter.
    "To foresee a competition that is open only to non conscientious objectors is discriminatory towards those exercising a right sanctioned by bioethics and medical professional ethics," he said.
    On Wednesday the Italian Bishops Conference (CEI) slammed the planned hiring of two gynecologists at San Camillo on a contract that reportedly envisages their dismissal if they refuse to perform abortions because it is against their consciences. Health Minister Beatrice Lorenzin said the call was "not envisaged" by law, adding however that hospitals could ask regional governments to complete "specific individual services".
    Women regularly complain about the difficulty of obtaining an abortion in Italian hospitals, where conscientious-objector doctors are a majority. According to the latest figures, seven out of 10 Italian doctors are conscientious objectors to abortion.
    Zingaretti said on Wednesday that the hirings were a way of making sure Italy's abortion law is upheld.
    "We have to face up to the issue of the real implementation of Law 194, also by trying innovative forms of a law that would otherwise not be upheld", he told reporters.
    But, he said, the call for the two posts at San Camillo was a limited one and the overall right to conscientious objection was "100% guaranteed".