Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1091956
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 13 MARCH 2019 7 NEWS ANALYSIS nancies who may not afford to travel to another country to have an abortion. The risk of more back room abortions be- ing performed in Malta could in itself serve as a wake up call on the need to regulate abor- tion locally. Still immigration is not a one-way traffic and it may also include with it peo- ple hailing from countries with more ingrained conservative outlooks, which may prop the ranks of more militant pro life movements. 4. Foreign abortions remain a safety valve which effec- tively delays the introduc- tion of safe and legal abor- tions in Malta So far Malta has been largely spared from the horrors of backstreet abortions because although abortion is illegal, it is still available for Maltese wom- en who can afford to travel to other European countries like the UK where abortions are legally and safely performed. This may also explain why the debate on abortion has taken so long to take off. For those mostly effected by the ban, namely poorer women who cannot afford to travel abroad are too politically disenfran- chised to campaign for legal changes. Ironically the avail- ability of abortion services abroad may well be the great- est obstacle to introducing abortion locally. For it may be easier to help women in need of an abortion to procure one abroad than to campaign to get the law changed to permit it in Malta. Yet faced by the prospect of NGOs like the British Abor- tion Support Network helping poorer Maltese women seek- ing abortions in other coun- tries, pro-life groups may be tempted to start questioning the right of Maltese women to travel abroad to terminate their pregnancy. But such an approach may well be a step too far in a society which has reached its own equilibrium based on exporting the prob- lem to other countries. At- tempts to restrict freedom of movement of women seeking abortion abroad played a big role in shifting opinions on this issue in a more liberal direc- tion. 5. Voice for Choice has put women at the centre of the debate. The attitude taken by women particularly candidates and MPs, will be fundamental The most significant aspect in the evolution of the abortion debate in Malta is that wom- en like Lara Dimitrijevic and Adreanna Dibben have taken a prominent role. Although it is also to be expected that op- position to abortion will also come from women who see abortion as an affront to moth- erhood, women are also more likely to feel empathy towards the plight of other women. The pro-life movement would endanger itself further if it becomes an outlet for angry white male conservatives lash- ing at independent pro choice women. The experience in other countries as well as the local divorce experience has shown that debates on moral issues tend to bring out the most conservative elements out of the woodworks to the detriment of the causes they champion. The increase of female MPs through the intro- duction of quotas will further feminise the debate, with the increased likelihood of Malta seeing the election of its first crop of pro-choice female MPs. 6. Labour's future attitude towards the issue will be crucial It was the changes in the civil liberties arena under the Mus- cat led Labour government, which emboldened pro-choice activists to speak up now. For in several issues like gay rights, Labour not only enacted legal change but also changed popu- lar attitudes. Still this does not mean there is any chance that abortion is introduced any time soon. The Labour Party has made it clear that abortion is not part of its current 'progressive' agenda. The elevation of the staunchly pro-life George Vella to the presidency has sent a strong message to socially conserva- tive voters that Labour has no intention of rocking the boat on abortion, at least for time being. By calling for "a respectful de- bate" on abortion, Green Party MEP candidate Mina Tolu has broken a taboo, that politicians should not even debate this is- sue. It may only be a matter of time for some candidates in la- bour to start expressing them- selves on this issue in a more liberal way. But this also comes at a risk, that of increasing the Nationalist Party's temptation of appropriating the pro-life issue as a marker of its iden- tity, thus paving the way for a protracted US style culture way which may ultimately only be resolved in a referendum pit- ting two diametrically opposed world views. A pro-choice coalition, Voice for Choice, includes seven non-profit organisations that aim to remove the stigma of abortion