{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,10]],"date-time":"2026-01-10T07:53:13Z","timestamp":1768031593346,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"3","funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100015965","name":"US-Italy Fulbright Commission","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100015965","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Med Humanities"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2024,4,9]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2024,9]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>The Italian Ministry of Health reports annually on activities related to abortion and fertility, providing quantitative data that looks ripe for analysis. Actors ranging from activists to medical providers to European courts have criticised the data as misleading, but the Ministry reports have not changed. In this piece, we bring together different perspectives on this data from inside and outside academia and offer guidance on how it should\u2014and should not\u2014be used in research.<\/jats:p>\n<jats:p>In this article, we collect a wide variety of publications ranging from civil society groups\u2019 reports to court decisions, academic articles and investigative reporting and harmonise the way they engage with the Italian Ministry of Health\u2019s data regarding abortion and particularly conscientious objection.<\/jats:p>\n<jats:p>Analyses rooted in the demographic and medical data about abortion seekers, the abortion rates over time, the different methods of abortion, etc are trustworthy and can be used to extrapolate levels of abortion access. This dataset on conscientious objectors systematically undercounts objectors, implying a false equivalence between people who do not object and people who actually work in an abortion service. We recommend that the Ministry report both the number of objectors and the number of medical doctors working in abortion services.<\/jats:p>\n<jats:p>The Italian Ministry of Health produces some valuable data about abortion, but conscientious objection is the key feature of abortion access in Italy, and this key datapoint is flawed. The Ministry could improve clarity and increase citizens\u2019 trust in government reports by adding data on the number of abortion providers.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1136\/medhum-2023-012852","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,17]],"date-time":"2024-05-17T18:58:07Z","timestamp":1715972287000},"page":"539-544","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Data discrepancies: Italian ministry reports on abortion, contextualised"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"50","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4020-7407","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Danielle","family":"Pullan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5204-7236","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Payton","family":"Gannon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"2024092309251302000_50.3.539.1","unstructured":"Anedda L. , Arora L. , Favero L. , Meurens N. , Morel S. , and Schofield M. . 2018. \u201cSexual and Reproductive Health Rights and the Implications of Conscientious Objection.\u201d Brussels Policy Department for Citizens Rights and Constitutional Affairs, European Parliament. https:\/\/eurogender.eige.europa.eu\/system\/files\/post-files\/eige_icf_sexual-and-reproductive-health-rights.pdf."},{"key":"2024092309251302000_50.3.539.2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Autorino T. , Mattioli F. , and Mencarini L. . 2020. \u201cThe Impact of Gynecologists\u2019 Conscientious Objection on Abortion Access.\u201d Social Science Research 87. doi:10.1016\/j.ssresearch.2020.102403","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ssresearch.2020.102403"},{"issue":"4","key":"2024092309251302000_50.3.539.3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"272","DOI":"10.3109\/13625187.2014.990089","article-title":"\u201cConscientious Objection and Waiting Time for Voluntary Abortion in Italy.\u201d","volume":"20","author":"Bo","year":"2015","journal-title":"The European Journal of Contraception & Reproductive Health Care"},{"issue":"1","key":"2024092309251302000_50.3.539.4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"64","DOI":"10.1186\/s12910-017-0221-x","article-title":"\u201cThe No Correlation Argument: Can the Morality of Conscientious Objection Be Empirically Supported? The Italian Case.\u201d","volume":"18","author":"Bo","year":"2017","journal-title":"BMC Medical Ethics"},{"issue":"1","key":"2024092309251302000_50.3.539.5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"183","DOI":"10.1177\/0141778919894965","article-title":"\u201cThe Ambivalence of Law: Some Observations on the Denial of Access to Abortion Services in Italy.\u201d","volume":"124","author":"Caruso","year":"2020","journal-title":"Feminist Review"},{"key":"2024092309251302000_50.3.539.6","unstructured":"Cavallaro F . 2019. \u201cL\u2019aborto Avrebbe Salvato La Vita Della Nostra Valentina. 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Forthcoming. \u201cBetween the Church and the State: Catholic and European Influences on Abortion Governance in Italy and Beyond.\u201d Journal of Religion in Europe"},{"key":"2024092309251302000_50.3.539.33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1016\/j.contraception.2023.110058","article-title":"\u201cSoutheastern US Anesthesia Providers\u2019 Perspectives on Abortion Provision: Inductive Findings from a Qualitative Study.\u201d","volume":"124","author":"Reeves","year":"2023","journal-title":"Contraception"},{"key":"2024092309251302000_50.3.539.34","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMsb1612472"},{"key":"2024092309251302000_50.3.539.35","unstructured":"Tribunale Amministrativo Regionale per la Puglia . 2010. \u201cAborto - Interruzione Volontaria Della Gravidanza -- Obiezione Di Coscienza.\u201d Available from: https:\/\/gspi.unipr.it\/sites\/st26\/files\/allegatiparagrafo\/16-04-2014\/sent_tar_bari_sez_ii_14settembre_2010_interruzione_volontaria_della_gravidanza_e_obiezione_di_coscienza.pdf. 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S. . 2009. \u201cThis Common Secret: My Journey as an Abortion Doctor.\u201d New York, London PublicAffairs; Perseus Running [distributor]"}],"container-title":["Medical Humanities"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/syndication.highwire.org\/content\/doi\/10.1136\/medhum-2023-012852","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,23]],"date-time":"2024-09-23T17:56:22Z","timestamp":1727114182000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/mh.bmj.com\/lookup\/doi\/10.1136\/medhum-2023-012852"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,9]]},"references-count":37,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,23]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2024,9]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1136\/medhum-2023-012852"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/medhum-2023-012852","relation":{},"ISSN":["1468-215X","1473-4265"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1468-215X","type":"print"},{"value":"1473-4265","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,9]]}}}