For Immediate Release
23rd November 2022
Comments following the Press Conference held by the Minister of Health on Wednesday 16th November 2022.
Life Network Foundation Malta refutes the Deputy Prime Minister’s statement that doctors and mothers in Malta are at risk of prosecution. In fact, no prosecutions have ever been brought against doctors or obstetricians who acted to save a mother’s life. With the existing law, the medical procedures in Malta ensure every attempt is made to save the life of the mother and preborn child. The codification of this principle may set minds at rest, however, any amendments proposed should not be used to open the way to abortion.
Life Network notes that Malta has a phenomenal record in maternal care, with zero maternal mortalities in the last 10 years, and as such, the system that Malta has in place is an excellent one, in which pregnant women and their babies are both protected and cared for.
The Bill presented in Parliament exceeds the remit of intent, as described by the honourable Minister, so much so, that mainstream media, both locally and internationally, have described this bill as effectively introducing abortion.
The vague “health” provision in the Bill is very similar to provisions that have been used in abortion legislation in the UK and past abortion legislation in Australia, New Zealand, and many other countries. In these countries, such vague health provisions have allowed for abortion on demand.
Statistics from the UK Government’s Department for Health and Social Care show that the vast majority of the over ten million abortions that have happened in the UK since the Abortion Act was introduced in 1967 have been allowed under the ‘health’ clause in the law.
The Prudente case is currently being heard and one questions if it is wise to imply, at this stage, that the law in Malta needs to be changed, especially as this may have implications on the outcome of the case. Nonetheless, the finest legal minds are currently doing their best to defend our laws that have stood the test of time. The government should show prudence in this respect.
If the Government is seriously intent on enshrining into our legislation the practices that are today already administered by our medical professionals, then we urge the Minister to consider the proposed amendment of the leading medics, lawyers, ethicists, and academics in Malta who have studied the implications of the Governments’ proposals and constructively provided a legal text that provides the sought-after legal certainty.
Life Network wishes to remind the Government that while it does have a mandate to govern, it does not have a mandate to bring abortion into Malta in any way.
