[The Italian law on termination of pregnancy (194/1978). Should it be revised? The palliative care option].

The section of the Italian law on the termination of pregnancy (no. 194/1978) regarding late termination is revised and discussed in the light of the various options that could be offered to parents. Besides recent suggestions to apply time limits, the author reviews an alternative therapeutic option, considered the only feasible revision of the law which calls for strong involvement by the neonatologist and close collaboration with the obstetrician: the offer of palliative care for foetus/neonate and parents.