BORGO EGNAZIA, Italy (Reuters) – Group of Seven leaders made no direct reference to abortion in their final communique on Friday, according to a draft seen by Reuters, with Italy refusing to bow to French pressure to include the word.
The issue caused a diplomatic spat between the two countries, with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni accusing French President Emmanuel Macron of seeking to score political points ahead of national elections in France.
The G7 statement upheld commitments “to universal access to adequate, affordable, and quality health services for women”, that the leaders made at their summit in Hiroshima in Japan last year.
However, it removed specific reference in the 2023 communique on the importance of “access to safe and legal abortion and post-abortion care”.
Rome — which holds the rotating G7 presidency — said there was no need to repeat the language because they had specifically reiterated their Hiroshima pledge.
However, diplomats said France and Canada had sort to strengthen the language on abortion rights, but had failed to get it past the Italians.
“You don’t have the same sensibilities in your country,” Macron told an Italian reporter on Thursday evening. “France has a vision of equality between women and men, but it’s not a vision shared by all the political spectrum.”
Meloni, who is anti-abortion, responded that there was no reason to generate a controversy over the issue.
“I think it is profoundly wrong, in difficult times like these, to campaign (for an election) using a precious forum like the G7,” Meloni told reporters.
(Reporting by Angelo Amante, editing by Crispian Balmer)
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