Unborn child’s rights issues still unsettled

“It is time to heed the constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives,” reads the US  Supreme Court ruling, which was passed by six votes to three.  Some states in the US will enact laws similar to the ones we have in Malta where the unborn child is protected very significantly and others will have ones similar to those they have in some parts of the world, where the choices of the mother are absolute. This ruling, however, highlights that the issue of the rights of the unborn child within this unique moral situation is certainly not a settled matter.

The recent unfortunate case of Andrea Prudente has brought accusations that Malta is behind the times, even though we boast zero maternal mortalities in the last 10 years.  This is very significant: no pregnant woman (or within 42 days of being pregnant) has died as a result of her pregnancy and, yet we are told we should be changing our laws.

Arguably, Prudente put herself at significant risk by leaving a country which has such a high level of maternal care.

Protesters walk past a mural reading “there’s always hope” during a demonstration in downtown Los Angeles, two days after the US Supreme Court released a decision striking down the right to abortion. Photo: AFP

It is interesting to see, in the context of Malta, a country that is both very traditional and proudly progressive, that those welcoming the USA Supreme Court ruling are an eclectic mix of secular, LGBTQ+, religious, humanists, blacks, whites and activists on other human rights issues too.

In welcoming the USA Supreme Court ruling, we should recognise that Malta is in a wonderful position to encourage, guide and teach, both medics and legislators in pro-life states, how best to protect unborn babies and their mothers so that they too will be able to boast a zero maternal mortality rate and a state where all babies are protected and valued. A combination of the USA Supreme Court ruling and Malta’s standards of maternal care would provide mothers and babies in those states the best shot at “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”.

Anton de Piro – Valletta

Protecting lives

Many people in Malta and around the world are resonating with the excruciating anxiety experienced from moment to moment by Andrea Prudente and her partner, Jay Weeldreyer.

We are told that Maltese medical staff are allowed to end the pregnancy if it is a severe and immediate enough danger to the life of the mother. Getting infected could be such danger.

One does not envy the decision-making position of the medical staff. Activist and media attention can be an eye-opener but can also sensationalise and distort facts, as happened in Ireland, and lead to overreactions that do more harm than good.

But should not doctors have the serenity and freedom from prosecution to act in cases where there is no baby’s future life at stake and the danger of serious infection is seriously there, acting even before the infection actually sets in? Should laws and protocols not clearly allow this? Or are doctors already free enough to make such a balanced judgment, if only allowed their freedom by outside attention?

Charles Pace – Msida

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