Italy’s pro-life camp is trying to force people seeking abortions to face extra barriers to access the procedure, namely to listen to a “foetal heartbeat” before terminating.

Pro-Vita e Familglia, an Italian anti-abortion group with links to far-right Christian lobby in the United States, has gathered more than 106,000 signatures to demand that patients face two extra steps before getting an abortion, namely that doctors should show them the foetus and make them hear its “heartbeat”.

However, the term “foetal heartbeat” is medically and scientifically inaccurate, according to the American College for Obstetricians and Gynecologists, ACOG.

In the first phase of pregnancy, which is when abortion is legal in Italy, there is no heartbeat. The sound that is often mistaken for a heartbeat is the ultrasound monitor machine used to observe the state of pregnancy.

Nonetheless, this proposal, signed by 50 different groups, was delivered to the Italian parliament last week. For a referendum to be considered, at least 50,000 signatures must be gathered, meaning the proposal has more than double the needed support.

Will Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni push it into Italy’s law?

Italy’s Prime Minister and leader of the far-right party Brothers of Italy, is known for her pro-traditional family stance and concern about the country’s slow birth rate, worrying many that abortion laws could be on the line after her election.

But this doesn’t guarantee that Meloni will back the proposal, who has stated that she would “not touch” existing abortion laws. It does however hold worrying implications about the US’s influence on women’s rights in Europe.

The rise of anti-abortion influences

An international, well-funded network of Christian groups has lobbied to restrict access to abortion since the legal battle of Roe v. Wade in the 1970’s. Last year, the US Supreme Court overthrew Roe v. Wade, a landmark legislation that granted abortion access on a federal level, effectively allowing states to pass their bans on the practice.

Georgia, Iowa, South Carolina and Texas, now have laws that forbid abortions after this infamous “foetal heartbeat” is heard at around six weeks of pregnancy, which is around the time people may find out they are initially pregnant.

The reach of anti-abortion networks reaches across the world, with 60 branches of the organisation Heartbeat International – including Malta.

Movimento per la Vita (“Movement for Life”), the biggest anti-abortion organisation in Italy, is an affiliate of Heartbeat International and, according to news sources, has received a total of $99,810 (€92,800) from it in funding for training, projects, and support in the last ten years.

Heartbeat International (HI) is a far-right US organisation that funds “pregnancy crisis” services around the world. It is known for misleading women into delaying an abortion until it is no longer possible for them to have an abortion.

Malta has three affiliates registered with Heartbeat International:
Hope Crisis Pregnancy Support, Life Line Malta, and LifeNetwork Foundation Malta.

According to this report in 2021, over the last 10 years, at least $700 million was spent on “anti-gender activism” in the EU.

Claire Provost, the global investigations editor at OpenDemocracy, warned that affiliates from Heartbeat International were involved in legal interventions, lobbying, misinformation campaigns, and network building across borders.

“Our undercover journalists came across advertisements that don’t disclose their anti-abortion positions. They’ve had affiliates say abortions can cause cancer while having a baby can cure serious illnesses. They used guilt tactics to prevent women from getting abortions,” she explained.

Speaking to Lovin Malta, local pro-choice group Doctors for Choice warned that Malta has helped fund LifeNetwork Foundation Malta, to run its “pregnancy crisis centre”.

Life Network Foundation however vehemently rejected “any implication of financial assistance from the foreign organisations”.

How can Europe prevent foreign influence on abortion laws?