G7 tension after abortion left out in final statement

Diplomats blame far-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni for the watered down statement.

(First row Left side) Argentine's President Javier Milei, Kenya's President William Ruto, US President Joe Biden, Mauritania's President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pope Francis (6th-L) and (First row Right side - From L) Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Jordan's King Abdullah, France's President Emmanuel Macron, Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, United Arab Emirates’ President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterr (Second row), President of the European Council Charles Michel (3rd-L), British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (4th-L), Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (5th-L), India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (6th-L), German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (7th-L) and Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (8th-L) pose for a family photo with G7 heads of States and heads of delegation of Outreach countries at Borgo Egnazia resort during the G7 Summit hosted by Italy, in Savelletri, on June 14, 2024. Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP

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15 Jun 2024, 16:20

BARI, Italy (AFP) — The word abortion was left out of a Group of Seven summit statement agreed on Friday, reflecting a rift on the issue between the host, Italy’s far-right premier Giorgia Meloni, and her allies.

Leaders of the G7 rich democracies last year committed to addressing “access to safe and legal abortion” in a statement after a summit in Hiroshima, Japan.

But that reference did not appear in the final statement agreed at this year’s summit in Puglia — with diplomats blaming Prime Minister Meloni.

The statement read: “We reiterate our commitments in the Hiroshima leaders’ communique to universal access to adequate, affordable, and quality health services for women, including comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights for all.”

The United States and France had both pushed back after reports that Meloni — a far-right leader who is opposed to abortion — was trying to water down the language on women’s rights.

A senior European Union official had earlier confirmed that attempts to use the more explicit wording had failed.

“We have been defending what was agreed in Hiroshima where the text was more explicit, but it was not possible to reach an agreement on disputes in the room,” the official said.

But he added: “What is important is that in the text you have promotion of sexual and reproductive rights.”

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