Italy investigates why women’s names were written above graves of aborted fetuses in Rome cemetery

Crosses marking fetus burials at the Flaminio cemetery in Rome

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Italian prosecutors and the government’s privacy watchdog are investigating how the names of women who miscarried or had abortions ended up on crosses over graves for the fetuses in a cemetery in Rome.

Rights groups have denounced the grave markings as a gross violation of the women’s privacy, which is protected by the 1978 law that legalised abortion in Italy.

While regulations require burial of a fetus after 20 weeks, women who have complained said they never knowingly consented to the burials, much less to having their names put on crosses.

The scandal — brought to light last month when a woman wrote on Facebook about coming upon her name on a cross in Rome’s Flaminio Cemetery – comes as Italian women say finding a doctor to perform an abortion has become increasingly difficult.

Women’s rights group Differenza Donna says it has so far identified over 1,000 such graves in the Roman cemetery in overgrown plots.

The crosses are crude wooden or iron slats, and some of the graves are adorned with filthy stuffed animals or toys that have been left to the elements.

The scandal has reignited the debate in Italy over the difficulties women have in obtaining safe abortions despite the procedure being legalised in 1978

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"As if what I went through was not enough, I discovered that at the Flaminio Cemetery there is a tomb with my name on it," said one of the women, Francesca, whose name appears on a grave.

She had an abortion in September 2019 after a scan showed her baby would not survive a malformed heart and aorta and that her own life would be at risk if she carried the pregnancy to term.

"Somebody, without my consent, collected the fetus, buried it at the cemetery and put over it a cross with my name and family name on it," said Francesca, who spoke on condition that her last name not be used because she said she feared retaliation from anti-abortion activists.

Differenza Donna has filed a formal complaint with Rome prosecutors, providing testimony from some of the women.

"By displaying names and family names of the women on the crosses, there was a violation of a crucial aspect of the law … which is the right to privacy and confidentiality for women who voluntarily interrupt the pregnancy," said Elisa Ercoli, the organisation’s president.

MPs have demanded explanations from the public entities implicated, and Italy’s government-appointed guarantor of privacy opened an investigation.

The public hospital that performs abortions in Rome, the local health system and the city’s rubbish collection agency, which runs cemeteries in Rome, are all pointing the finger of blame at one another.