Abortion is the murder of one human being by another. It is the systematic sacrifice of unwanted babies on a massive scale. St Pio of Pietralcina (Padre Pio) had emphasised that abortion is murder twice over – that of the baby and that of humanity.

Abortion is, probably, the ultimate insult that a human person can inflict on God, trashing the wonderfully knit body of His creature and robbing that new person of an earthly life, thwarting God’s plan for that child.

“The deliberate decision to deprive an innocent human being of his/her life is always morally evil and can never be licit, either as an end in itself or as a means to a good end” (Evangelium Vitae 57).

The realm of truth is immovable and immutable, delineated by a sharp demarcation line. The rest is lies and deceit. White or black. There is no grey area.

Contemplate the horrendous injustice of it all. A pregnant woman petitions a doctor to abort her pregnancy. The doctor humiliates himself and his calling by hiding behind the “her choice” fig leaf. He becomes judge and executioner, serving the death sentence on that innocent person in the womb who has been denied recognition and, therefore, defence, executing a most cruel and gruesome killing.

With the abortion pill, the pharmacist hands the means for the execution to the mother. Here, we have the total negation of the doctor’s raison d’être. He has one patient killed by the other, whom he has abandoned in her hour of need.

Try to fathom the depth and magnitude of the insult procured abortion inflicts on God.

How would you feel if you presented a wonderful gift to a particular person whom you truly love and that person takes the gift, tears it apart and destroys it before your very eyes, telling you in deed and often in word that your gift is unwanted?

God continues to love the sinner in His absolute and unconditional way but abhors the sin. Abortion is abhorrent.

Beware, that even though you may not be promoting abortion, by doing nothing, you are contributing and become complicit. In fact, those who are not actively against abortion, are for abortion.

In doing nothing, you facilitate the licit practice of abortion in Malta. You are complicit in the victory of evil in the battle for the soul of Malta.

Should abortion be made legal, even just for particular cases, then the ‘gate’ protecting the child (embryo, foetus, prenatal, neonatal) would not just be thrown wide open but lifted off its hinges. 

If abortion is introduced, no one will be safe. If a society procures the killing of its most dependant and vulnerable members, then it can kill anyone it holds to be low in value and deems unworthy of holding onto his/her God-given life.

Abortion is, probably, the ultimate insult that a human person can inflict on God- Peter Micallef-Eynaud

Euthanasia would follow in due course, allowing a future leader to decide that beds in hospitals and old peoples’ residences will need to be ‘freed’.

Evangelium Vitae spells out clearly Catholic moral teaching on the matter. “Nothing and no one can, in any way, permit the killing of an innocent human being, whether a foetus or an embryo, an infant or an adult or an old person, or one suffering from an incurable disease or a person who is dying” (Ev V 57; CDF Iura et Bonum).

Edmund Burke warned us years ago: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. Nobody makes a greater mistake than he who does nothing because he could do only a little.”

Burke, continues to warn: “All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for the people of good conscience to remain silent.” 

Become complicit in good. Pray fervently and intensely that Malta be spared from the horror of abortion. 

It is the pro-abortion politicians, parliamentarians and doctors who could drag Malta into being a part of the holocaust brought about by abortion. Pray for them, that they may convert to the anti-abortion force.

A number of high-profile abortionist doctors have converted to being actively and forcefully anti-abortion. Anthony Levatino is one. He spoke to us, doctors and medical students, of both pro- and anti-abortion persuasion, on November 28, 2019.

Press parliamentary candidates into declaring that they would actively oppose the legalisation of abortion in the Maltese parliament. If they do not, you know where they stand. Remember that those who are not against abortion, are for it.

Finally, a word addressed to those who have taken Holy Orders. I hold your office in high esteem. Do not let the faithful down. It should be clearly told that those failing to act against the abortion threat would be complicit in its eventual practice and effect. If you do not use your pulpit, you will lose it.

This is a momentously important juncture in Malta’s history. 

Do not do nothing. Repel abortion (often under the guise of reproductive health/rights). Doing nothing against abortion means doing something for abortion.

All it takes for evil to triumph is for the good to do nothing. All it takes for abortion to be practised in Malta is for you to close your eyes in the face of the threat.

God alone can save Malta from abortion. Pray that, by God’s grace, MPs and politicians will never legalise abortion in Malta.

Peter Micallef-Eynaud is a medical doctor and moral theologian.