“Foreigners are shocked at how deprived we are” is a favourite taunt of the pro-abortion lobby. There must be something wrong with us, the taunt goes, if the rest of the civilised world has abortion and we do not. That’s the gist of it. What if, in fact, it’s the other way around? I actually like to think that, for once, we got it right. 

Perhaps we can attribute any tiny residue of compassion and respect remaining in our society to our pro-life stance. When it comes to the crunch, most of us, liberal or conservative, Nationalist or Labourite or neither, all seem to balk at the idea of abortion.

Two recent quasi-identical news items in Times of Malta and l-Orizzont claimed that a UK organisation, the Abortion Support Network, has had an increase in requests from Maltese women unable to travel due to the coronavirus pandemic.

One assumes that the women were referred to the organisation by a local body, but none is mentioned, perhaps because such referral is illegal? The husband of Lara Dimitrijevic is quoted, but otherwise no local feminist groups or individuals voice an opinion, so the article must simply have appeared on the desks of the newspapers in question. Dimitrijevic herself is not quoted at all.  Perhaps she was busy.

The Abortion Support Network says the increase in requests from Malta was due to two factors. 

One was the suspension of flights, since people who planned to go away for an abortion were unable to do so. In such cases, the representative said, women become frantic and might seek an unsafe alternative.

The case of the Irish woman who tried to commit suicide because she was prevented from going to the UK to abort was cited by Dimitrijevic. 

Now perhaps wealthy women in Malta will know what it’s like for everyone else who can’t just hop on a plane, he added.

So, the coronavirus, of all things, is being used to justify abortion. 

In addition to the suspension of flights, another ill-effect of the lockdown is that women in abusive relationships are forced to spend more time with their partners, and are more likely to have an unwanted pregnancy, and consequently want an abortion. This is presented as a given.

So the evil of the coronavirus and the evil of domestic violence are to be remedied, the article implies, by a third evil, the evil of abortion.

Abortion is inherently anti-feminist, because instead of celebrating maternity it relegates it to secondary status

The Abortion Support Network cannot be expected to care about women trapped in abusive relationships. Presumably they get paid for their services and, for them, it stops there. Cynical, but true. What about us though?

For those of us who care the slightest bit about women’s well-being, surely what should worry us most is the level of domestic violence in our midst.

Why are women still having to stay in toxic relationships, risking their lives and those of their children? How can we tolerate, even feed, this macho culture?

I write close to the anniversary of the death of Sylvia King, a woman killed in cold blood because she defended her friend against a husband’s brutality. A short paragraph announced a Mass in memory of an unsung heroine whose name speaks to me of solidarity, selflessness, love, bravery and so much more. 

The way she died, burnt alive in a car, is too similar for us not to think of another martyr, Daphne Caruana Galizia, who died because she told the truth about government corruption, defending not just one person but a whole nation.

Both deaths are a chilling reminder that some people will not tolerate women who take a stand. Many women face the stark choice – your acquiescence or your life.

Abortion is presented as a woman’s choice to do what she wants with her own body.  Yet, a woman who is living in fear for her very existence is unlikely to have the luxury of even the most basic choices. 

In a situation of abuse, how freely would such a choice be made? What if she doesn’t want an abortion and is forced to have one? Is that OK, because the choice is to abort?

And in the unlikely event that she is able to choose freely, how could self-inflicted physical violence heal mental scars from physical violence inflicted by someone else? 

The damage to her integrity can only be worsened by surgical intervention that strikes at the very heart of her being, of her identity as a woman.

I am unapologetically anti-abortion, believing it to be intrinsically wrong and against the principle of the right to life, an overriding principle superior to all other rights.

I also believe that it is inherently anti-feminist, because instead of celebrating maternity it relegates it to secondary status. Of course, this is a minority view in most of the rest of the world but most of them don’t remember a time when abortion wasn’t available. How would they know?

If only true solidarity existed. The likes of Sylvia King are few and far between, but her heroism stands out in stark contrast with the fake compassion of the Abortion Support Network. All our intelligence and energy should be focussed on making sure that no woman should ever feel afraid in her own home.

The combination of our macho culture with the growing phenomena of white slavery and the exploitation of women in brothels and domestic service, now with a recession looming, is toxic.

I urge organisations such as Women for Women to focus their good intentions and their energy on the real threats that women face.

Mary Camilleri, teacher