January 5, 2008
Bloomberg News, New York Times
ROME — The Vatican is backing an Italian opposition proposal to make it harder to end pregnancies, threatening to open new divisions in Prime Minister Romano Prodi‘s coalition.
The proposal by Sandro Bondi, a lawmaker in Forza Italia, the party of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, was welcomed this week by the current and previous heads of the Italian bishops’ conference. Mr. Bondi has called for a law to ban abortion after the 90th day of pregnancy.