Gianna Beretta Molla

Gianna Beretta Molla (1922–1962) was an Italian Catholic pediatrician, wife, and mother whose decision to refuse abortion or hysterectomy during a high-risk pregnancy — and to accept the personal consequences — has made her one of the most compelling modern witnesses to the sanctity of human life. Born on October 4, 1922, in Magenta, near Milan, she was one of thirteen children in a devout Catholic family. She earned a medical degree from the University of Milan in 1949 and a specialization in pediatrics from the same university in 1952. She then opened a clinic in Mesero, near Magenta, with a particular focus on mothers, children, and the elderly poor. Gianna was not a cloistered ascetic — she loved skiing, mountaineering, painting, music, and the theater. She was a member of Catholic Action and the St. Vincent de Paul Society, weaving professional work and active charity into a single life. In 1955, she married Pietro Molla, an engineer, and they had three children over the following years: Pierluigi, Mariolina, and Laura. In September 1961, during her fourth pregnancy, doctors discovered a fibroma — a large benign tumor — on her uterus. Three options were available: abortion, a complete hysterectomy ending the pregnancy, or removal of the fibroma alone, which would preserve the baby but carry serious risk to her own health. Gianna chose the third, and told her doctors plainly to save the child if forced to choose. The fibroma was removed and the pregnancy continued. On April 21, 1962, Gianna gave birth to a daughter, Gianna Emanuela. One week later, on April 28, she died of septic peritonitis at age thirty-nine. Her daughter grew up to become a physician and was present when Pope John Paul II canonized her mother on May 16, 2004.