Emma Bonino, a 78-year-old Italian politician who fought for abortion access, has died. Her life in politics began when she traveled to a clandestine clinic in Florence to terminate an unplanned pregnancy in 1974 and was later arrested, which led to her involvement in the campaign that eventually legalized abortion in Italy in 1978. Bonino went on to have a dynamic career spanning five decades, serving as foreign minister, European affairs minister, and European Commissioner. She remained in frontline politics well into her 70s despite being diagnosed with lung cancer and refusing to quit smoking.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-11,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Emma Bonino, Italian politician who fought for abortion access, dies aged 78
ROME, Sept 11 -
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who → fight → access
Emma Bonino's life in politics began with a crime.
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life → begin → crime
In 1974, at a time when abortion was illegal in Italy, she travelled to a clandestine clinic in Florence to terminate an unplanned pregnancy.
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she → travel → pregnancy
"Coming back by train at night, I decided that never, never, never again should anyone have to suffer this humiliation," she later recalled.
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she → come → humiliation
A year later, determined to drag abortion out of the shadows, she handed herself in to the police, turning her private "offence" into a public act of defiance.
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she → drag → defiance
The arrest made headlines, fueling a campaign that eventually led to the legalisation of abortion in 1978.
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that → make → 1978
It also launched Bonino into parliament with the Radical Party, a small but relentless force for civil rights.
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It → launch → rights
Direct and diminutive, Bonino was a passionate advocate for social justice and gender equality who deliberately courted controversy to advance her many causes at home and abroad.
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who → court → home
"I have been fighting for rights all my life, warning people to defend them, because they don't last forever," she told state broadcaster Rai in 2024.
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she → fight → 2024
In a dynamic career spanning five decades, Bonino won repeated election to both the Italian and European parliaments and served as a foreign minister and European affairs minister in Rome.
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Bonino → span → Rome
She remained in frontline politics well into her 70s, overcoming lung cancer despite refusing to give up smoking.
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She → remain → smoking
Underscoring her high standing in Italy, and belying Roman Catholic disapproval of her stance on abortion, the then Pope Francis made an unusual trip outside the Vatican in November 2024 to visit her in her home after an acute health scare.
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Francis → underscore → scare
She died on Friday aged 78, her spokesperson said.
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spokesperson → die → Friday
On Monday, Bonino was hospitalized in a serious condition, but was taken out of intensive care on Thursday and transferred to a private clinic.
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Bonino → hospitalize → clinic
BRINGING COLOUR TO A GREY BRUSSELS
Founded by Bonino's mentor, Marco Pannella, the Radical Party helped redraw Italian society, promoting an array of causes through acts of civil disobedience, hunger strikes and dozens of referendums.
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Party → bring → referendums
Some battles they won, such as banning nuclear power.
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they → win → power
In other campaigns, including a push to legalise cannabis, they fell short.
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they → include → cannabis
To widespread surprise, Bonino was appointed to the European Commission in 1994, thanks to the backing of the then Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
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Bonino → appoint → Minister
There she took charge of a disparate group of dossiers that no-one else had claimed - fisheries, consumer policy and the European Community's humanitarian office.
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one → take → that
She was the first woman ever to wear trousers at a meeting of the male-dominated Commission, and proved herself to be one of the most colourful politicians in an often grey Brussels.
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herself → wear → Brussels
Accomplished and confident before the television cameras, she quickly drew media interest by riding Spanish fishing boats on the high seas during the EU's "fish war" with Canada.
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she → draw → Canada
Not one to mince her words, she accused Canada of piracy, which that country's government denied.
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government → mince → which
'I DO NOT THINK WOMEN ARE A CATEGORY'
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WOMEN → think → ?
In 1997 she was briefly detained by Taliban militia during a visit to Afghanistan after people in her party took pictures in a women's hospital - an offence under Taliban regulations.
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people → detain → regulations
She condemned the international community's silence over the fate of Afghan women under the Taliban but told Reuters in 1996 that she did not see herself as a traditional feminist.
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herself → condemn → feminist
"I do not want and I do not think that we women are a category," she said.
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she → want → ?
"If we think we are a category to be protected, I think we will lose our fight."
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we → think → fight
After her stint in Brussels, she pursued a broad mix of causes, including the campaign against female genital mutilation, pension equality in Italy and migrant rights.
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she → pursue → Italy
She also promoted closer integration across the European Union, founding the +Europa (More Europe) party in 2017.
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She → promote → 2017
While she herself regularly scored well in popularity polls, her new party fared poorly at the ballot box, failing to win any seats at the 2019 and 2024 European parliamentary elections, while picking up just two seats at the 2022 national polls.
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party → score → polls
Bonino, who was born in northwest Italy in 1948, never married and did not have children.
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who → bear → children
"I didn't have them out of choice," she told Io Donna magazine in a 2018 interview.
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she → have → interview
"You need a lot of courage (to have children).
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You → need → children
With a child you need to say 'for ever'.
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you → need → child
I never managed that.
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I → manage → that
