For Immediate Release
29th November 2022
44 NGOs, Organisations, Groups and Associations together with Former President of the Republic Marie Louise Coleiro Preca
endorse the Group of 80 Experts Proposal.
Appeal to Government to redraft the amendment tabled in Parliament to articles 241 and 243 of the Criminal Code, and not open the open the door for the introduction of abortion.
We the hereunder NGOs, Organisations, Groups, and Associations, together with Former President of the Republic Marie Louise Coleiro Preca and her husband Edgar Preca have come together to appeal to Government to take note of the concerns raised by the Group of 80 Experts and the public at large and accept to redraft the amendment to articles 241 and 243 of the Criminal Code presented in Parliament, and which as proposed, opens the door for the introduction of abortion be replaced with the proposed amendment presented by the Group of 80 Experts.
The Group of 80 Experts concluded that the amendment put forward by the Government opens the door for legal abortion in our country as it does not only speak of instances where the woman is at risk of dying but opens the door to other health related instances that do not put the life of the mother at risk of dying. This goes beyond the declared intention of Government when presenting this amendment, and the 30 organisations remind Government that as confirmed by the Prime Minister, the Government does not have a mandate to introduce Abortion in Malta.
The Group of 80 inter-disciplinary experts in clinical medicine, gynaecology and obstetrics, health sciences, midwifery, law, psychology, well-being, social policy, family studies, philosophy, ethics and theology provided an alternative amendment that ensures that the law complies with the dignity of the human person and the human rights deriving therefrom, in particular, the fundamental right to life of the woman and the unborn child, and the right to legal certainty, in relation to the situation where a pregnant woman’s life is in manifest danger of death or where a real and substantial risk to her life exists from a physical illness.
We therefore endorse the proposed clause and appeal to the Government to adopt this version in Parliament:
No crime is committed under article 241(2) or article 243 when the death or bodily harm of an unborn child results from a medical intervention conducted with the aim of saving the life of the mother where there is a real and substantial risk of loss of the mother’s life from a physical illness.
The endorsing NGOs, Organisations, Groups and Associations:
The Former President Marie Louise Coleiro Preca & Edgar Preca
Augustinian Youths
Azzjoni Kattolika
Caritas Malta
Catholic Charistmatic Renewal
Catholic Voices Malta
Church Schools Assocation (CSA)
Christian Life Community (CLC) Malta
Dar Merhba Bik
Doctors for Life
Eucharistic Youth Movement Malta
Fondazzjoni Sebħ
Forum tal-Ghaqdiet u Movimenti Kattolici tal-Lajci
Gozo Aid for the Visually Impaired
Gozo Association for the Deaf
Great Oak Malta Association
I See Life
Kamra ta’ L-Ispizjara ta’ Malta
Knisja Evangelika Battista
Kummissjoni Gustizzja u Paci
Legion of Mary
Life Network Foundation
Malta Catholic Youth Network
Malta House of Prayer
Malta Unborn Child Platform
Maltese Jesuit Community
MFOPD
Mission Fund
Moviment ta’ Cana
Muscular Dystrophy Group Malta
National Council for Women
National Parents Society of Persons with Disability (NPSPD)
New Humanity Movement, Malta (Focolare Movement, Malta)
Pietre Vive
Salesians of Don Bosco
Secretariat for Catholic Education
Segretarjat Assistenza Socjali (AKM)
Socjeta M.U.S.E.U.M Nisa
Socjeta M.U.S.E.U.M Rġiel
Sovereign Order of Malta
St Jeanne Antide Foundation
The Evangelical Alliance of Malta
Trinity Evangelical Church
Youths for Christ
Żgħażagħ Azzjoni Kattolika (ŻAK)
