Our living national heritage (2)

I fully support the amendment to entrench the ban on abortion in the Constitution. If we do not guarantee this right to life, it is useless to have other fundamental rights entrenched in our Constitution, because those who are aborted and therefore are not given the opportunity to be born, cannot enjoy any other right.

Some are saying that they are not going to support this amendment because, according to them, the Government has introduced this issue to divert our attention from national problems. May I propose to these individuals and organisations to simply support the amendment (if they are really against abortion). In this way, no out of proportion debate is created, life is defended and our attention is not diverted from other issues.

Some others are saying that they are against abortion but oppose a Constitutional entrenchment because it is not needed, since it is also included in the Criminal Code. I definitely am not mistaken to say that this shall not be the only article that is also sanctioned in the Criminal or Civil Code. Please, if this is really your only difficulty, do not put unnecessary hurdles to such a basic value.

Just at the time we are discussing this issue, one of our MEPs, Dr John Attard Montalto, has voted in the European Parliament, in favour of abortion in the case of rape in situations of conflict. Undoubtedly, the vote is qualified by a highly humane circumstance. But the child is innocent and does not deserve to be killed. Moreover if we tamper with basics, it is very easy to go down all the way other nations did. If for all EU member states except Ireland and Malta abortion is legal, to whom does the European Parliament address its vote?

May I congratulate Joseph Muscat and Louis Grech, our other Labour MEPs, who have voted against abortion. May I also tell our Nationalist MEPs, Dr Simon Busuttil and David Casa, how disappointed I am that they were not present for this vote.

Finally, I cannot help noting that almost all individuals and organisations (that is not all) who have found some difficulty to support this anti-abortion measure are also publicly known to be pro-divorce. Who can deny the link?