Reproduction

Under the Fascist regime, maternity became a public duty toward the state. Under the regime’s legal reforms, abortion was classified within the new category of crimes against “the integrity and the health of the race.” No fewer than 11 articles were dedicated to abortion practices, instigation, sterilization, and venereal disease. Prohibition extended to all means of prevention or interruption of pregnancy. Nevertheless, despite the emphasis on the exclusively reproductive function of the female body, the ban on contraceptives resulted in the survival, if not in a wider diffusion, of abortion. While the Fascist regime tried to control the health and fecundity of Italian women, these totalitarian aspirations were often thwarted. Especially—but not only—thanks to judicial sources, this chapter analyzes behaviors of subjects and networks in everyday life, placed at the highly problematic intersection of the public and private spheres, caught between the new ideology of maternity and the range of practices which had been used by women for centuries.