There is much to discuss and much to disagree about at the annual meeting of G7 leaders in Italy. Two major wars in Gaza and Ukraine. A huge loan to Ukraine. And then there’s abortion rights.
Officials familiar with the negotiations for the G7’s final communique, essentially a statement agreed upon by all leaders, said the language on reproductive rights came down to a diplomatic tug-of-war, largely between the United States and summit host Italy. .
Several officials said the focus of the debate was Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni’s request that the words “abortion” and “reproductive rights” be excluded from the statement. The Italian government denies it intends to abandon its commitment to protect safe abortion.
When informed of Ms. Meloni’s position, President Biden pushed back, seeking to explicitly mention reproductive rights and at least reiterate his support for abortion rights in last year’s communiqué, U.S. officials said. Several other G7 members agreed with Biden, according to U.S. and European officials familiar with the discussions.
Finally, the word “abortion” does not appear in the communiqué, but it does quote the final statement from last year’s G7 summit in Japan, which said, “We reaffirm the Hiroshima Leaders’ Communiqué on universal access to adequate, affordable and high-quality abortion for women.” Health services, including comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and the rights of all people.
The Hiroshima Statement specifically included “addressing the issue of access to safe and legal abortion and post-abortion care”.
For Biden, who is Catholic, the issue has long been a fraught personal and political one. But after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, his defense of abortion rights became even more forceful. More than 20 states.
Biden strongly criticized the court’s ruling and used it to galvanize key voting blocs as he seeks re-election.
Analysts say that for Ms. Meloni to take a stance on abortion is an attempt to please some of her conservative base and perhaps Pope Francis, who attended the summit at her invitation to discuss the use of artificial intelligence. Influence. This is also consistent with her overall governance style.
She tends to stick to her conservative beliefs when fighting the culture war at home and adopt a pro-Western stance when dealing with international issues. For example, she is a strong supporter of Western support for Ukraine against Russia.
“She has taken mainstream positions on important issues on the international stage,” said Italian political scientist Roberto Dalimonte. He said being conservative on abortion “has nothing to lose” abroad but would please some of her voters at home.
U.S. officials familiar with the discussions said that when Biden learned from his staff in the past week that reproductive rights might not appear in the communiqué, he instructed his team not to let that happen or he would not Sign the document.
In a statement sent to news organizations on Thursday, Ms Meloni said she was not seeking to backtrack on guarantees on safe and legal abortion, but that “to avoid repetition” the summit’s concluding statement could only refer to previous communiqués.
Asked about numerous media reports that she was trying to keep “abortion” out of the communiqué, Ms Meloni said on Friday ahead of a bilateral meeting with Mr Biden: “I’m not aware of any intention to discuss the topic. I can tell you that , the G7 communiqué will be unanimously agreed upon by all G7 countries.
When asked by an Italian journalist on Thursday about the removal of language supporting abortion rights, French President Emmanuel Macron – who faces off against the far right in a general election due in just two weeks – said he “regrets” it.
“You know France’s position,” Mr Macron said. “France enshrines in its constitution a woman’s right to abortion and freedom to control her own body.”
“Your country doesn’t feel the same way right now,” he said.
Meloni said in a statement on Thursday that it was “extremely wrong” to “use such a valuable forum as the G7 to conduct a campaign.” She did not say who she was referring to.
A senior EU official said in an interview that the EU defended the use of the full language of the Hiroshima communiqué, including language on abortion rights. But he said leaders failed to reach agreement, ultimately leading to references to support for sexual and reproductive rights but no explicit mention of abortion.
The final communiqué reflects statements made before the G7 summit in Hiroshima, such as those issued in 2021, in support of “sexual and reproductive health” more broadly.
On a more personal note, Mr. Biden and Ms. Meloni appear to have had a warm relationship since her election, despite their differences on social issues.
Despite Biden’s concerns about her far-right party politics in 2022, the two leaders have shown a strong alliance on Ukraine. When she last visited the White House in March, Biden said the two agreed “we have each other’s backs” and kissed her on the forehead.
Despite expressing anti-abortion sentiments, Ms Meloni has pledged not to overturn Italy’s abortion law, which makes it legal and generally not controversial in the country. But she has tried to please conservative voters without making disruptive changes, emphasizing “prevention” of abortion in legislation passed in April and vowing to do all she can “to help women who think abortion is the only way to do it.”
Italy’s 1978 law legalizing abortion also emphasized helping women avoid terminating pregnancies due to financial, social or family difficulties, and Ms. Meloni said parts of the law were not fully implemented. Critics of the new law proposed by Meloni’s party say they worry it could encourage anti-abortion groups to campaign inside family counseling centres.
Ms Meloni has also vowed to make surrogacy a widespread crime. It is already illegal in Italy, but under the proposal surrogacy could be punished even if it took place abroad.
On Friday, some abortion rights supporters in Italy spoke out against removing the word from the final communiqué.
Laura Boldrini, a member of the Italian Democratic Party, wrote on
Others expressed support or at least understanding of Ms. Meloni’s position.
“She did a great job,” said Giorgio Cersi, an anti-abortion activist in the northern Italian town of Bessana. He said Ms Meloni’s party “has anti-abortion voters”. “She has to take that into account.”
Steven Erlanger Reporting from Bari, Italy, and Aurelien Breeden From Paris.
