Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has addressed reports of a riot over abortion at the G7 summit, stating that there was no conflict over the issue. In fact, she said, there was “nothing to argue about.” During the summit, the word “abortion” was notably absent from a joint statement, which sparked discussion behind the scenes.
Leaders of the seven richest industrialized countries had previously voiced their support for “safe and legal” options to terminate pregnancies in a written statement a year earlier. However, this time the text only affirmed their continued support for their previous statements on women’s healthcare. Insiders reported to The New York Times that Prime Minister Meloni did not want the word “abortion” in the text, leading to resistance from US President Joe Biden.
Meloni clarified during her closing press conference that reports on the issue were blown out of proportion. She explained that variations in wording in official statements are common and that referencing previous statements is a way to prevent unnecessary repetition in texts. According to the Prime Minister, if there is already agreement on a topic, there is no need to repeat it verbatim.