Emma Bonino, Italian abortion rights pioneer, dies at 78

Emma Bonino, a pioneering Italian politician and human rights activist who helped legalize abortion in Italy, died on September 11, 2026, at the age of 78. Her death was announced by her party, Europa, following a recent hospitalization for a respiratory crisis. Bonino had been admitted to Rome's Santo Spirito hospital in critical condition and was transferred to intensive care. After an initial improvement, she was moved to a private facility on September 10. Her health had declined in recent years following a lung cancer diagnosis in 2015, which she publicly overcame in 2023. Her political journey began with a personal act of defiance. In 1974, when abortion was illegal in Italy, she traveled to a clandestine clinic in Florence. A year later, she deliberately handed herself in to police to draw attention to the dangerous conditions women faced, an arrest that fueled a campaign leading to the legalization of abortion in 1978. This launched her into parliament with the Radical Party, a small but relentless force for civil liberties. Over a five-decade career, Bonino was elected seven times to the Italian Chamber of Deputies and twice to the Senate.