Italians vote on IVF issue

Italy’s emotional battle over whether to relax restrictions on assisted fertility treatment went to the ballot box today.

An intense campaign before the two days of voting pitted the Vatican against those who say Italy’s current law hurts scientific research and infringes on reproductive freedom.

Polls opened across the country at 8am and were to remain open until 10 pm. Balloting resumes tomorrow from 7am to 3pm (6am to 2pm Irish time), with results expected sometime later in the day.

The Interior Ministry estimated that by noon (11am Irish time), or four hours after voting began, 4.5% of eligible voters had cast ballots. That figure was based on feedback from more than 100 of 110 provinces, it said.

Turnout is crucial. Unless more than 50% of eligible voters turn out to cast ballots, the results of the referendums won’t count.

Widespread abstention would doom the efforts to throw out several provisions of the tough law, including one that prohibits egg or sperm donation from outside the couple and another banning scientific research using human embryos.

Among the early voters was President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. Other voters at the public school in Rome where he and his wife, Franca, came to vote cheered when they arrived. Ciampi didn’t say how he voted.

The vote poses a test to the church’s influence in this overwhelmingly Catholic nation.

Roman Catholic teaching is opposed to assisted procreation and scientific research on human embryonic stem cells, and the Vatican wants to maintain the restrictions of the current law. Italian bishops have repeatedly urged a voter boycott, with Pope Benedict XVI’s endorsement.

Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the pope’s vicar for Rome and president of the Italian bishops’ conference, reiterated his appeal this week, saying that the Vatican is looking to ”enlighten consciences” and defend life.

Opponents of the legislation say the law is too restrictive and prevents research to treat diseases. They have enlisted women celebrities and created committees to urge people to repeal parts of the legislation.

“This law is against women, but also against research and ultimately against people’s good health,” architect Matilde Cante said yesterday in Rome, adding she would go to the polls and vote in favour of loosening the legislation.

The current law, which went into effect last year, limits the number of embryos that can be created to three, forbids sperm or egg donation from outside the couple and prohibits scientific research using embryos.

The referendums ask voters whether Italy should end all those limitations, as well as permit fertile couples with hereditary diseases to screen their embryos.

Many also contend that the Vatican’s campaign amounts to interference in the country’s domestic affairs. In a series of interviews over the past weeks, prominent cardinals have defended Ruini’s appeal and rejected the accusations.

The political world is split over the referendums, with parties generally telling their voters to decide according to their conscience. Conservative Premier Silvio Berlusconi has not indicated if and how he would vote.

Opposition leader Romano Prodi voted early today in his hometown of Bologna, but made no comment on how he voted, the Italian news agency Apcom reported.