San Marino votes itself out of ‘hypocritical reality’

The microstate of San Marino is giving Maltese pro-choice campaigners hope: the landlocked country was thrust into the international spotlight on Monday when it voted in favour of legalising abortion up to 12 weeks, bringing it in line with the majority of Europe.

San Marino follows in the footsteps of Gibraltar, which voted in favour of legalising abortion back in March 2021, in what is the latest wave of referendums on the controversial topic that was kick-started by Ireland in 2018.

Currently, Malta, Andorra and the Vatican are the only countries in Europe to have a total abortion ban regardless of the situation.

Malta’s pro-choice lobby Voice for Choice said it was thrilled for women and girls in San Marino, saying their rights had finally been recognised by the state.

“The result shows hope and room for change even in the most insular and conservative environments,” a spokesperson said. “Since the Irish referendum, there has been a wave of change in predominantly Catholic countries, like Argentina, Mexico, and Chile. Change is not only possible; it is happening, even here.”

The NGO has since been in contact with activists from No More Shame in Gibraltar and women’s union Unione Donne Sammarinesi from San Marino, to exchange ideas and experiences and plan activities together.

Maria Elena D'Amelio

UDS member Prof. Maria Elena D’Amelio described the campaign as having been intense, pitting the “yes” vote against the centre-right Christian-democratic party.

Like Malta, abortion in San Marino is a divisive topic. Opposition to decriminalisation was led by the Sammarinese Christian Democratic Party, which has strong ties to the Catholic Church, and has governed the country for nearly 20 years.

“The country is very similar to Malta, Andorra, and Gibraltar; there is a robust Catholic presence. And the majority of the people are Catholic. So we knew we were working in a very socially conservative environment,” D’Amelio explained.

With a land-based population of 33,000, the referendum saw over 35,000 people being eligible to vote in last Sunday’s referendum, around one-third of them based abroad. The turnout was 41% – some 14,500 people. Around 77% of voters approved the motion to allow the termination of a pregnancy up to 12 weeks. After that, abortion would only be allowed if the mother’s life was in danger or in the case of foetal abnormalities that could harm the woman physically or psychologically.

“We were amazed by the results… we didn’t expect this majority. People who voted yes, including many Catholic people, did so because our campaign was very respectful and based on facts – we had doctors and lawyers on our side who were able to explain why the referendum was necessary. I do believe the people of San Marino are more advanced than politicians, who were never interested in discussing the subject,” D’Amelio said.    

D’Amelio explained that many women in San Marino felt criminalised and punished for something that was considered a right in most European countries. “Even Catholics realise that abortion is not always something a woman chooses easily. The people understand that abortion needs to be provided legally and safely by the State – I also think the idea that women could drive thirty minutes and get an abortion in Italy didn’t sit right with people. It’s hypocritical.”

Abortion has been legal in Italy since 1978 – the closest Italian town to San Marino is Rimini, at 20km away just a 32-minute car ride. Over the last 40 years, women from San Marino who wanted to get an abortion crossed the border to their neighbour. “Yes, it was possible, but the issue is women had to do it completely alone, without telling anyone, they got an abortion. They didn’t have any support, even psychologically, because it was considered a crime,” D’Amelio pointed out.

For the last 40 years, the people of San Marino have lived in this “hypocritical” reality.

“We were worried that because the ruling party campaigned against abortion, there would be a push-back when it came to transposing the vote into law. We’re not naive. We know it’s going to be tough, and our work has just started, and we will monitor all the steps of creating this law because, with 77%, the government has to do something. That is an overwhelming democratic expression,” D’Amelio said.

With Malta’s growing pro-choice voice led by a coalition of doctors, health professionals, feminist groups and young activists, D’Amelio advised that any pro-choice campaign must try not to alienate any part of the community.

“We made our position clear; what we’re doing was about protecting women because otherwise they would be left alone. Abortion is always there, and there will always be women who seek it out.

“The strength for us was to reach the population, ask the population to support us. A great thing that we had was that we asked the people to send pictures of themselves with a couple of lines on why they support abortion, and it was overwhelming; we flooded social media with that.”