Overview

• On August 6, the Council of Ministers formally challenged Sicily’s Law 23/2025 before the Constitutional Court, suspending the regional measure pending review.
• Sicily adopted the law on June 5 to bar doctors invoking conscientious objection from public hospital recruitment to tackle acute staffing shortages.
• Rome contends the rule violates Article 117 of the Constitution by undermining equality, freedom of conscience and equal access to public office.
• In 2022, 81.5% of gynecologists in Sicily were registered objectors, leaving provinces like Messina without any abortion providers and Trapani with only one.
• The dispute highlights tensions between regional autonomy and the national government’s obligation to guarantee legal abortion services across Italy.