Image: Dr Elena Caruso, Senior Research Associate, University of Bristol Law School, United Kingdom, and Fellow of the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, University of Toronto Law School, Canada
by Elena Caruso. Journal of Law and Society. 2026:1–28. https://doi.org/10.1111/jols.70054
Abstract
In this newly published journal article, Elena Caruso of the University of Bristol Law School explores the little-known history of abortion law reform in 1970s Italy. During this period, the Italian Parliament approved Law 194/1978, which abrogated previous draconian criminal legislation that dated back to the Fascist regime but simultaneously introduced a hyper-regulatory regime that remains in force today and continues to undermine sexual and reproductive health for women and pregnant people in the country.
At the time of its approval, however, Law 194/1978 was celebrated as a landmark reform, expected to transform the lives of many women and to put an end to backstreet abortions. Enacted amidst a context of armed struggle and severe political instability, the passage of Law 194/1978 under a conservative government was the outcome of years of grassroots mobilisation demanding ‘free and safe abortion on demand’.
The article’s central argument is that abortion law reform unfolds slowly and cannot be understood solely through a formalist lens. The concept of “becoming legal” is proposed as an analytical framework for rethinking legal change as a bottom-up process, encompassing informal practices alongside formal legal transformations over time. From this perspective, abortion law reform cannot be fully understood without accounting for the decisive role played by the feminist movement. The article notably draws on original archival materials that span feminist records and parliamentary debates, and new oral history interviews with campaigners.
Website: Elena Caruso – researcher