Many Italian doctors refuse to do abortion

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ROME, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- More than two-thirds of Italian gynecologists and about half the anesthesiologists refuse to be involved in abortions, a government report says.

Health Minister Renato Balduzzi, in a report Tuesday to Parliament, said in 2010 69.3 percent of gynecologists said they would not preform abortions, the Italian news agency ANSA reported. That figure was 70.7 percent in 2009 and a marked increase from 2005, when 58.7 percent said they would not do abortions.

The number of anesthesiologists who said they would not assist at an abortion rose from 45.7 percent in 2005 to 50.8 percent in 2010.

In southern Italy, the percentages were even higher with 80 percent of gynecologists refusing to do abortions. More than three-quarters of anesthesiologists in Sicily refused to do abortions.

In Tuscany and the Valle d'Aosta region bordered by France and Switzerland more than 70 percent of anesthesiologists are willing to assist at abortions.