The new crime of 172 quater, harassment to hinder abortion: back to back with the expansion of symbolic criminal law

Abstract

The new crime of anti-abortion harassment regulated in article 172 quater introduced by LO 4/2022 punishes anyone who harasses a woman to hinder her right to voluntary interruption of pregnancy or professionals who prevent her from carrying out their work freely, but it is a criminal type that has not escaped doctrinal criticism since it presents serious problems in its legislative technique. On the one hand, we find ourselves with a competition of laws that makes one of its modalities unnecessary and on the other, the attack against freedom of expression in the other. Carrying out a restrictive interpretation compatible with respect for fundamental Rights is the only possible way to interpret the pre-cept, as well as criticizing the expansive and symbolic tendency in which the criminal legislator has established itself.