BORGO EGNAZIA, Italy (AP) — President Joe Biden and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had a lot to talk about Friday when they met on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit, but one notable topic was not on the table : abortion, an issue that emerged as an unexpected point of friction between the democracies gathered in Italy.
Meloni’s right-wing government this week worked to water down references to abortion in the final declaration issued by all G7 nations at the end of the summit, sparking disagreement among the nations over language in the final version of their shared commitments. That’s according to two senior U.S. officials, a senior European Union official and two other officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss a statement that has not yet been made public.
The draft omits the word “abortion” but references the need to promote “reproductive health and rights,” according to a copy of the text obtained by the Associated Press.
A White House readout of the Biden-Meloni meeting made no reference to the issue and instead emphasized their common efforts to “deepen the U.S.-Italy partnership on a range of vital security, economic and regional issues.” He cited Meloni’s “steadfast support for Ukraine as it continues to defend itself from Russia’s brutal war of aggression, including critical security assistance from Italy.”
White House officials say the two leaders work well together, despite Meloni’s views on abortion and other conservative political views, which align more closely with Republicans in the US.
The summit highlighted how their relationship has evolved since Meloni came to power in 2022 as head of Italy’s first far-right-led government since the end of World War II. Shortly after Meloni’s victory, Biden warned about the rise of far-right populism in Europe and the United States.
These concerns have diminished with Meloni’s strong support for Ukraine, at a time when the commitment of some other far-right leaders has been weakening. Meloni also announced on Thursday that Italy would participate in a US-led investment effort in Africa, the Lobito rail corridor. It was a clear gesture of support from the US following the Italy’s withdrawal from China’s “belt and road” infrastructure initiative.
Biden initially “used Meloni’s candidacy as a warning to ocean liners on both sides of the Atlantic,” said Rachel Rizzo, a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council’s European Center in Washington, before the summit. “But her mandate has been quite progressive in terms of Italian support for Ukraine, in terms of Italian support for NATO. So that relationship has really developed in a very positive direction.”
On the issue of abortion, the G7’s upcoming final declaration will state that the nations have reaffirmed their commitment since the 2023 summit in Japan, supporting “universal access to adequate, affordable and quality health services for women, including sexual health and comprehensive reproductive and rights for all. ”
That 2023 text, however, also clearly stated that nations reaffirmed a “full commitment” to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights for all, “including addressing access to safe and legal abortion and post-abortion care.” .
The summit’s final declaration is a large document that covers many issues and often requires discussions so that all leaders feel comfortable with the final language. French President Emmanuel Macron said he regretted the decision to omit the word abortion.
“It’s not a view shared across the political spectrum,” he said. “I regret it, but I respect it because it was the sovereign choice of your people,” he told an Italian reporter Thursday.
The US delegation was pleased with the specific references to the 2023 summit in Japan, which affirmed the right to abortion care.
But access to abortion is a key focus of Biden’s 2024 reelection campaign, as Democrats seek to motivate voters concerned about the deterioration of health care for women since the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 overturned the constitutional right to abortion. About half of the 50 states now restrict access to abortion, and the issue has been expanded to include access to emergency medical care, contraception and in vitro fertilization.
Republican leader Donald Trump has repeatedly been credited with overturning the federally guaranteed right to abortion — having appointed three of the justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade. resisted supporting a national abortion ban and says he wants to leave the issue to the states.
Biden, a Catholic, has had a decades-long evolution on abortion rights that, in some ways, reflected the changing attitudes of the Democratic Party. He used to oppose federal funding for abortion services, but his administration has worked to protect access by suing states where women can’t get care. But he still doesn’t usually say the word “abortion.”
The consequences of Roe go beyond what the word “abortion” generally means in the US – the ability to terminate an unwanted pregnancy. The Biden campaign has sought to use these ripple effects to reach a broader voter base and also often uses words like “reproductive rights.”
In Italy, Meloni, who campaigned with the slogan “God, country and family”, prioritized encouraging women to have children to reverse Italy’s demographic crisis. Abortion has been legal since 1978, and she has insisted that she will not repeal the law and only wants to implement it fully.
But his forces recently passed legislation that allows anti-abortion groups to access women considering abortions at the public health centers where they go for counseling. For those on the political right, the change merely fulfills the original intent of the 1978 law legalizing abortion, which included provisions to discourage the procedure and support motherhood.
For the left-wing opposition, the decision undermines the right to abortion that opponents had warned that it would follow Meloni’s election in 2022.
And the G7 statement is another sign. In a statement released on Thursday, the head of the Italian Democratic Party, Elly Shlein, said that the published text was a “national embarrassment” for calling into question a fundamental right of women.
Pope Francis was at the summit on Friday and Biden would meet with him privately. During the president’s last audience with the pope in 2021, Biden said Francis told him, “I was a good Catholic and should continue to receive communion.”
The following night, he went to Mass in a church in Rome and received Communion, proof that, even in the pope’s own diocese, Biden’s position on abortion was not an impediment to receiving the sacrament.
At the same time, Francis is firmly opposed to abortion, equating it to “hiring a murderer to solve a problem.”
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Associated Press writer Sylvie Corbet in Paris contributed to this report.
