Demographic Anxiety and Abortion: Italian Pro-Life Volunteers' and Gynecologists' Perspectives

In this article, we analyze the public debate on fertility decline and abortion in Italy, focusing on demographic anxieties, fueled by conservative demographers and politicians, about the different reproductive behavior of native Italians and migrants. We argue that vitapolitics, a moral regime that defends “life” and condemns abortion, is one of the main mechanisms of reproductive governance in Italy. Drawing on two studies 1) on pro-life volunteers’ activism and 2) gynecologists’ attitudes to abortion and conscientious objection, we illustrate how vitapolitics shapes the demographic anxieties of these two social actors, who contribute to discipline reproduction on the ground.