Italy updates IVF rules to allow access for widowed or separated women

Italy’s Health Ministry has updated its guidelines on medically assisted reproduction, allowing access for women who requested the procedure with their male partner but who have since become separated or widowed.

Predominantly Roman Catholic Italy has strict rules on in vitro fertilization, or IVF, procedures. They are generally restricted to heterosexual couples, but over the years regulations have been partly watered down by judicial decisions.

The latest change, published by the ministry on Thursday...