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Italy’s DPA issues combined 415K euro fines over abortion-related privacy violations

Italy’s privacy regulator has imposed a fine of over 400,000 euros ($439,440) on Rome’s city council and its cemeteries agency for their previous practice of inscribing the names of mothers on the graves of aborted fetuses. The issue came to light in 2020 when women who had undergone abortions discovered plaques with their names on a burial site at Rome’s Flaminio-Prima Porta cemetery. Some of these women filed legal complaints, arguing that this practice infringed upon their right to privacy, leading to subsequent investigations.

In response to the situation, the privacy regulator instructed local health authorities to cease including personal details of women on burial documents and medical certificates for aborted fetuses, deeming it an unauthorized disclosure. Abortion has been legal in Italy since 1978, but it remains a highly contentious topic. In numerous public hospitals, the procedure is effectively inaccessible due to a significant number of healthcare professionals who conscientiously object to performing it.

The local administration of Rome has not yet commented on the imposed fine. However, in November, the city revised its burial regulations to ensure that graves of aborted fetuses would be designated with anonymous codes instead of the names of the mothers.

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