The fundamental right to life is enshrined in the Constitution and cannot depend solely on the will of the mother, Life Network Foundation have said in a statement voicing strong opposition to a bill proposing the decriminalisation of abortion.
“Maltese law also recognises the unborn child as a recipient of certain civil rights. This bill will be causing an inconsistency between criminal and civil law, as well as going against the Embryo Protection Act, which protects human life from conception, at its early stage,” the NGO said in a statement.
This week, independent MP Marlene Farrugia presented a bill to Parliament that proposes decriminalising abortion, meaning women who procure abortions will no longer face the possibility of jail-time.
Pro-life lobby dubs Farrugia law ‘blatant attempt to introduce abortion’
Life Network Foundation says decriminalisation of three-year jail for women who terminate pregancy, was declaration that makes abortion permissible
15 May 2021, 12:27pm
by Matthew Agius
Malta’s pro life lobby Life Network Foundation has called MP Marlene Farrugia’s bid to decriminalise penalties for women and medical professionals who terminate pregancies, as “a blatant attempt to introduce abortion into Malta, allowing every pregnancy to be terminated by a mother or medical professional, and the baby in the womb destroyed.”
Life Network said it strongly objected to the bill proposing the decriminalization of abortion, arguing that decriminalisation of an act “is a declaration that the act is permissible, and worse still, acceptable.”
First reactions to Malta’s abortion decriminalisation bill
Malta is one of a few countries in the world and the only EU State to completely ban the termination of pregnancy.
The Bill was presented in the House on Wednesday just after question time. Any decision on when or if the Bill will eventually be debated in parliament would have to be made by the House Business Committee.
What were the first reactions to the Bill?
Carmel Cacopardo, leader of Green Party ADPD, said this was a major step forward in Malta’s abortion debate. “To have the courage to discuss something like this is essential. As a country we have been avoiding the discussion for years. Marlene’s step forward in the House today gives this debate a new direction. Much is left to do. This is just the first step. It is necessary to lift the fear of discussing this. Only in this way we can move forward.”
Women have suffered the worst consequences of the pandemic, according to MP Marlene Farrugia, who on Wednesday called on pro-lifers and pro-choicers to come tog
Updated 9.50pm
Independent MP Marlene Farrugia s bill proposing the decriminalisation of abortion has been welcomed as historic by pro-choice activists, while an anti-abortion NGO said it was shocked beyond belief .
Farrugia s private members bill is proposing the decriminalisation of abortion, a crime that carries up to three years imprisonment in Malta. The PN later said it could never back the decriminalisation of abortion.
Lara Dimitrijevic, who leads the Women’s Rights Foundation, called the tabling of the bill historic .
Over the past years the WRF has called for a debate on abortion, the lack of which had surprised former Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muižnieks in 2017.