Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1034189
11 NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 30 SEPTEMBER 2018 era.org.mt Environment & Resources Authority Hexagon House, Spencer Hill, Marsa. PUBLIC INFORMATION SESSIONS TREES AND WOODLANDS PROTECTION REGULATIONS The Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) in conjunc on with eNGO, Għaqda Siġar Mal n shall be organising a number of informa ve sessions for farmers and hor culture enthusiasts on the recently published Trees and Woodlands Protec on Regula ons, 2018 (SL 549.123) and the Guidelines on Works Involving Trees. ERA officials shall be providing informa on on the Regula ons and Guidelines. The public is cordially invited to a end any one of the following schedule: • Wednesday 3rd October at 18:00hrs – Mġarr Local Council, 22, Sir Harry Luke Street • Saturday 6th October at 10:00hrs – Rabat (Gozo), College Boys' Secondary School Hall • Wednesday 10th October at 18:00 hrs – Ħaż-Żebbuġ, St Igna us College Primary School Hall For further informa on, you are kindly requested to contact the Environment and Resources Authority by calling on 2292 3500. issued on unborn children. "This effectively means that a state entity is able to impose legal limits on what a pregnant woman is authorised to do. This is not about whether unborn children merit state protection or otherwise, but really about the fact that a woman's body is not an incubator with the sole pur- pose of popping children, but a person entitled to respect for her dignity, privacy and independ- ence." Falzon said it was not clear what criteria the FSWS relies on to as- sess whether a care order on an unborn child should be issued, and what limits these criteria im- pose of such intrusive actions. "May the pregnant woman eat unhealthy food? Is she allowed to drink a glass of wine with dinner? Is she allowed to work, drive or exert herself? "Furthermore, the measures have the potential of being dis- criminatory since they seem to exclusively target the pregnant woman and not other persons who could potentially damage the unborn child. For example, what if the woman's partner smokes in her presence? Will the Agency intervene?" Lawyer Lara Dimitrijevic, of the Woman's Rights Foundation, al- so seemed to express surprise at the use of care orders for unborn children. "This is beyond the fundamental right of the person, in this case being a woman." FSWS boss outburst Grixti was criticised last week by the Women's Rights Foun- dations for "victim-blaming" women who found it difficult to exit relationships of domestic violence. Grixti also took exception at the WRF's promotion of the march against femicide last week, citing the group's sup- port for women's reproduction rights as being incompatible with the protection of vulner- able people. "We are legally responsible for the safeguarding of children, be- cause they are the most vulner- able. We have often placed care orders on children that are not yet born, especially in cases of drug abuse. As a national agency we cannot be shoulder to shoul- der with who is in favour of abor- tion… when a pregnant woman is killed, it is indeed a double murder." Grixti complained with Mal- taToday that activists may have given the impression that the FSWS was not protecting wom- en well enough. "Like any organisation which is not happy to remain in its comfort zone we could always do with more financing to in- crease our services even further but to give the false impression that next to nothing is being done is blatantly unfair .... pri- marily because it discourages more people from joining the social care professions at a time when our biggest challenge is to find more human resources to work in a very delicate and sen- sitive sector." unborn children rights concerns