A pro-life group in Italy is calling on government officials in the region of Tuscany to implement a fiscal policy that allows Italians to verify that their taxes are not being used to finance abortion.

The organization Scienza & Vita said pro-life Italians want their tax contributions to be used to finance pro-life institutions and assist pregnant women in need before, during and after birth.

It also noted that according to the latest statistics from the Ministry of Health, 7665 abortions took place in Tuscany in 2010 and 7479 in 2011, at a cost of more than $9 million dollars in tax payer funds.

This money "could have been used to reduce the deficit" of various organizations charged with providing health care in the region, the organization said in a petition sent to the governor of Tuscany.

Since 1978, abortion has been legal in Italy up to the third month of pregnancy.

"Those of us who support this petition strongly desire not to collaborate, not even in directly, in paying for services that are immoral, such as the taking of an innocent and defenseless human life," the organization said in its petition.

"We do not want to be accomplices in acts that are contrary to our consciences, which include all those that contradict the general principal against murdering the innocent."