Emma Bonino, former abortionist close to Pope Francis, dies at 78

ROME (LifeSiteNews) — Emma Bonino, a prominent left-wing activist and former illegal abortionist praised by Pope Francis, died on Friday, September 11, at the age of 78.

A prominent figure in Italy’s Radical Party and later a leading politician of the +Europa Party, she represented one of the most emblematic figures of Italy’s secular and progressive establishment, a politician whose career was marked by fierce advocacy for so-called abortion “rights,” euthanasia, and radical individualism. She also became a symbol of the cultural revolution that sought to redefine Italy’s moral and legal landscape after the 1970s.

Bonino developed an unusually close personal relationship with Pope Francis. In February 2016, during a private meeting at Santa Marta, Francis declared that “Emma Bonino is among the greats of Italy today” because of her work in support of immigration.“She is the person who knows Africa best,” he added.

When someone pointed out that Bonino had always openly opposed Catholic moral teaching, Francis replied: “Patience — we must look at people, at what they do, and she has given Italy the greatest service in helping it understand Africa.” Francis was referring to the fact that Bonino consistently supported the abolition of laws against illegal migration, saying it should be treated as a social and humanitarian issue, not a criminal one.

On November 5, 2024, Francis visited Bonino shortly after she had been discharged from the hospital following a serious respiratory crisis. Francis arrived at her home carrying a bouquet of roses and a box of chocolates. The two elderly figures, both in wheelchairs, spent time talking on her terrace in what was described as a private encounter away from cameras and formal protocol.

READ: Pope Francis again praises notorious abortionist Emma Bonino: ‘I have great respect for’ her

Bonino later recalled the visit in an interview published by La Stampa, writing that Francis gave her an “unexpected” visit. “I remember that Francis said to me: ‘I am old and about to die, but you are young — hurry up and get well, and carry forward our ideas.’ And he also said that when people think differently, they must eventually reach a point of encounter,” Bonino reported.

In that interview, Bonino also recalled when, in 2014, she phoned Pope Francis during the Easter days because Marco Cappato — another Italian activist known for his radical battles and hunger-strike campaigns for euthanasia — resumed a dangerous fast while still recovering from major aortic surgery.

Unable to persuade him to stop, Bonino asked to speak with the Pope, who called her back requesting Cappato’s number and later speaking with him for about 20 minutes. Francis thus persuaded Cappato to end his fast so that he could better pursue his political campaigns.

Public esteem from Pope Francis provoked deep unease among many faithful who viewed Bonino’s legacy as fundamentally opposed to the sanctity of life and the moral order of Christian civilization. “How can the pope praise a woman that is best known in Italy for practicing illegal abortion and promoting abortion?” Ignacio Barreiro, head of the Rome office of Human Life International, said in 2016.

Emma Bonino’s career began in the early 1970s as one of Italy’s most visible and uncompromising activists for abortion “rights.” After undergoing an illegal abortion at age 27, she joined the “Information, Sterilization and Abortion Center,” a radical organization that claimed responsibility for more than 10,000 abortions, often performed clandestinely and in defiance of Italian law. Photographs from that period famously show Bonino carrying out illegal abortions using a homemade device powered by a bicycle pump.

Arrested for these activities, she spent a short time in jail before being acquitted, an episode that propelled her into national politics and cemented her reputation as the country’s foremost advocate for legal abortion. Her appointment as Italy’s foreign minister in 2013 triggered strong reactions from Italian pro-life leaders, who viewed her rise as emblematic of the cultural shift that normalized positions once considered extreme.