When US citizen Andrea Prudente found herself in Malta requesting to terminate her non-viable pregnancy, before being forced to seek an abortion abroad, she had no way of knowing her story would trigger a national debate on abortion.
She certainly would not have expected the Opposition leader to end up making silly puns about her surname during what should have been a mature parliamentary debate. But that’s exactly what Bernard Grech chose to do when it was his turn to express himself on the law being proposed by Labour.
There is a lot to discuss and criticise about the law, especially if you are adamantly against abortion. Critics say the proposed law is intended to be as vague as possible, leaving abortion decisions to mothers and their doctors, with vague terms like “risk to health” and “grave jeopardy” to guide their decisions.
But instead of effectively dissecting the law and mounting an organised and effective campaign against it, Grech decided to try to impress the hardcore conservatives by framing Prudente as an enemy and trying to belittle her and her ordeal.
Referring to her as “this American woman” and mocking her decision to come to Malta for a babymoon, Grech thanked the Maltese doctors for being the prudent ones in this situation.
He also questioned – twice – why she would take a 20-hour flight to come to Malta, giving credence to unproven allegations started by a blogger as well as former Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi that the woman conspired to introduce abortion to the country.
Again, instead of arguing the substance of the point, the men chose to turn their guns on a woman whose only crime seems to have been taking the matter to court in the hope that what happened to her doesn’t happen to anyone else and presumably get compensation.
There would have been nothing wrong if the PN criticised Robert Abela for being in any way dishonest in his handling of this bill and pushing forcefully for a toned-down version of this law.
But by taking such an aggressive stance against a woman who simply stood up for herself and other women, the PN has shot itself in the foot.
Worse, Grech’s choice of words also fans the flames of extremism in a country that already has a history of problematic discourse and violence against women.
It is deeply irresponsible for an Opposition leader to give the impression that it is normal and correct to make fun of a woman’s plight and turn her into a target of hate.
If the PN wants to persuade the country to stick to the status quo when it comes to abortion, it should at least show utmost sensitivity towards women who share different views on the matter and not victimise them further.
Clearly, Grech needs to surround himself with people who hold more nuanced views than him on the subject. He might have won points among the ultra-conservatives but he has certainly alienated several people thanks to comments clearly swamped by emotion.
Grech would be well advised to apologise, tone down his aggressive stance, stick to the substance of the discussion at hand, warn against extremist sentiments and start a meaningful process to attract women to the PN.
His words matter because he is the opposition leader and will be picked up and amplified through unscrupulous and venomous comments on social media.
More importantly, he needs to understand the dangers of jumping on the populist bandwagon to score political points by stigmatising a woman.
History has shown us the potential terrible repercussions when hysterical arguments replace respectful, well-researched debate.