Medical authorities in the
Veneto city of Rovigo were obliged to issue out a selection
competition for two biologists who are not conscientious
objectors to work in a hospital assisted conception unit, it
emerged on Friday.
The call was made after two colleagues already working in the
unit at Trecenta hospital refused to offer their services on
grounds of conscience, jeopardising the continuity of the
service offered to hundreds of couples.
The new hires were employed on a contract specifying that
conscientious objection constituted just cause for dismissal.
"Our aim is to ensure the continuity of activities, also
because assisted conception is among the essential basic
services," local health authority director Domenico Compostella
said.
"And the figure of the biologist is fundamental."
The news comes amid ongoing controversy over the planned
hiring of two gynecologists at Rome's San Camillo hospital on a
contract that reportedly envisages their dismissal if they
refuse to perform abortions in a bid to resolve widespread
conscientious objection in the capital.
The president of the Rome guild of physicians Giuseppe Lavra
has asked Lazio regional governor Nicola Zingaretti to scrap the
call on grounds it is "discriminatory towards those exercising a
right sanctioned by bioethics and medical professional ethics".
The Italian Bishops Conference (CEI) has also slammed the
call.
Health Minister Beatrice Lorenzin said the call was "not
envisaged" by law, adding however that hospitals could ask
regional governments to complete "specific individual services".
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