A coalition of pro-life campaigners that includes a former president of Malta has said that the government is ignoring its requests for an urgent meeting about abortion law amendments.  

The coalition Int Tista' Ssalvani, as well as a group of 80 academics, said that Prime Minister Robert Abela continued to ignore a letter it sent on December 1.

This despite Health Minister Chris Fearne having said this week that the government will be consulting widely before presenting revised versions of amendments to abortion laws, it noted. 

“We understand everyone to mean also us, and we therefore expect an invitation from government to be consulted,” said coalition chairperson Miriam Sciberras. 

The government is seeking to reform Malta’s blanket ban on abortion to allow for pregnancies to be terminated in cases when the mother’s life or risk are in “grave jeopardy”. 

Its proposal sparked a wave of protest from a variety of sectors as well as criticism from professional lobbies about a lack of clarity in the amendments’ wording. 

Former President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca and her husband Edgar Preca at the rally. Photo: Int Tista Ssalvani/Flickr

The coalition, which counts on former president Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca among its members, was at the forefront of protests against the law. An online petition it is leading to block any changes to abortion laws has garnered 25,000 signatures so far. 

The government has since said that it will be changing the bill to clarify that a viable foetus must be born and that more than one doctor will have to approve a termination for it to go ahead. 

On Friday, Health Minister Fearne said the government was still consulting a “wide array” of stakeholders before it finalised the wording of the revised amendments. 

In a statement on Saturday, the coalition said that it expected the government to genuinely consult, rather than “only listen to the pro-abortion lobby”.  

“It is unfortunate that Minister Fearne chose to portray the genuine and rational concerns of so many Maltese as ‘hype and frenzy’ simply because they don’t take him blindly at his word and recognize that the current proposal has inherent and potential danger to be abused and that cosmetic changes and reassurances on his part do little to change that,” the coalition said. 

It said that it remained committed to present proposals that  ensure the protection of mothers in life threatening situations whilst ensuring that the lives of unborn babies are protected from the risk of termination for any unjustified reason covered by the term ‘health’, as this would simply be abortion on demand.”  The endorsing NGOs, Organisations, Groups and Associations

Life Network Foundation - chairman@lifenetwork.euDoctors for Life - doctorsforlifemalta@gmail.comI See Life - iseelife.mt@gmail.com

The Former President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca & Edgar Preca, the Augustinian Youths, Azzjoni Kattolika, Caritas Malta, Catholic Charismatic Renewal, Catholic Voices Malta, Church Schools Association (CSA), Christian Life Community (CLC) Malta, Dar Merhba Bik, 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, Kamra ta' L-Ispizjara ta' Malta, Knisja Evangelika Battista, Kummissjoni Gustizzja u Paci, Legion of Mary, 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)