Emergency contraception in adolescents. A grey area in Italian legislation

Abstract

Objective: To explore Italian legislation and the social climate regarding the issue of emergency contraception (EC) in adolescents.

Results: In recent years, in Italy, we have seen changes in the law and in attitudes towards EC. Since 2016, EC has been approved for sale as a non-prescription drug to women over the age of 18. However, the requirement for a prescription is still in force for women under 18. This raises questions such as the minor’s ability to consent to family planning services to prevent pregnancy, and whether physicians require parental consent before providing an EC prescription to minors. This article explores these issues within the social and legislative context of adolescent reproductive health care, demonstrating a need for EC among Italian adolescents.

Conclusion: Making EC difficult for minors to access seems to respond to a political stance that clashes with existing social needs and with medical evidence that shows that EC is safe and reliable for use in adolescents, and that the increased use of EC has no negative effects on regular, ongoing contraceptive use or encourages risky sexual behaviour. Future interventions by Italian policy-makers should target these themes in order to make EC easily available to adolescents throughout the country.

摘要

目的：探讨意大利关于青少年紧急避孕（EC）问题的立法和社会环境。

结果：近年来, 在意大利, 我们看到法律和对待紧急避孕的态度都发生了变化。自2016年起, EC被批准作为非处方药销售给18岁以上的女性。然而, 对于18岁以下的女性的处方要求仍然有效。这引发了一些问题, 比如未成年人是否有能力接受计划生育方法避孕, 以及医生在给未成年人开紧急避孕药物处方之前是否需要征得父母的同意。本文将在青少年生殖卫生保健的社会和立法背景下探讨这些问题, 说明意大利青少年需要紧急避孕。

结论：使未成年人难以获得紧急避孕似乎是对与现有社会需求相冲突的政治立场和医学证据做出的反应, 这些证据表明青少年应用紧急避孕是安全可靠的, 并且增加紧急避孕的使用对正常、持续的避孕没有负面影响或鼓励危险性行为。意大利政策制定者的未来干预措施应针对这些主题, 以便使整个国家的青少年都能轻松的获得紧急避孕。

Keywords:

• Adolescents
• emergency contraception
• Italian law
• reproductive health care

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.