Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1207647
2 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 5 FEBRUARY 2020 NEWS IN MEMORIAM 5th February 2019 de Giorgio Roger On the fourth anniversary of his passing away Fondly remembered and deeply missed, by his wife Marica, Nick and Tita, Pat and Michel, Roger and Josianne, Michael and Marianne, John and Monique, grandchildren and great grandchildren Lord, grant him eternal rest. THE guiding principle of Doctors for Choice, the pro-choice group, is that abortion is a healthcare issue and that a ban on abortion is ultimately a risk to women's lives. "Abortion care is healthcare. This is the posi- tion of our organisation, as well as that of the highest medical institutions worldwide, includ- ing the World Health Organisation," their posi- tion paper is expected to read. The group of doctors aims to publish their po- sition paper today during a press conference. The group was founded in May of last year, 25 doctors advocating for safe, accessible, com- prehensive, evidence-based and reproductive healthcare in Malta. The group says that Malta's ban on abortion in all circumstances was deemed "not in line with international human rights standards and regional practices" by the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights in 2017. This complete ban is exclusive to Malta amongst all EU member states. "The complete ban on abortion is a risk to women's lives… as shown by observational scientific studies, denying women an abortion on request has negative repercussions on their physical health, mental health, and social situa- tion," the group wrote in a summary it provided of the paper. It added that Maltese women still travel abroad to get an abortion or ingest illegal abortive pills, so the Maltese law does not stop abortions from happening. "The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Children makes it clear that chil- dren have a right to access safe abortion and post-abortion care services… abortion is a very safe procedure, with statistically lower rates of morbidity and mortality than childbirth," the group says, insisting that claims that abortion harms women's mental health are not founded on scientific evidence. The position paper was authored by a team of six Maltese doctors from various clinical speci- alities: Dr Christopher Barbara (Psychiatry), Dr Gilbert Gravino (Clinical Radiology), Dr Jamie Grech (Paediatric Medicine), Dr Natalie Psaila (General Practice), Dr Elena Saliba (Paediatric Medicine), Professor Isabel Stabile (Obstetrics and Gynaecology). Abortion is a healthcare issue, pro-choice doctors group says A position paper that Doctors for Choice will release tomorrow is expected to say that abortion is a healthcare issue and that a complete ban on abortion is a risk to women's lives MASSIMO COSTA THE Malta Union of Teachers and the Education Ministry are to blame for the large number of "student-centres" reforms which are placing a burden on educa- tors, Union of Professionals Ed- ucators' head has said. UPE head Graham Sansone said that the excessive reform drive had started after the MUT and Education Ministry jointly signed a sectoral agreement in 2017. Sansone was today reacting to comments by Marco Bonn- ici in at interview with Malta- Today last Sunday, where the MUT president complained that school teachers were being sub- jected to a "rat race" of one re- form after another. "The Union of Professional Ed- ucators - Voice of The Workers, is perplexed to see stakeholders blaming a system that they ini- tially put together themselves. It's worthwhile reminding edu- cators who has put them in this misery," Sansone said. "The MUT together with its partner in crime, the Ministry for Education, had jointly signed an 'unprecedented agreement' - as stated by the education per- manent secretary [Francis] Fabri himself back in 2017. This agree- ment brought with it an exorbi- tant amount of work for all ed- ucators, starting from kinder to secondary level," he highlighted. Sansone said it was "ridiculous" that survey upon survey kept in- dicating the obvious - that re- forms were creating a problem for educators. "The lack of vision and foresight that the MUT and the ministry had, and still have, is incredible... and they are now realising that their reforms are stressing out educators." Underscoring that it was sad- dening to hear educators speak about their exhaustion and dis- satisfactions at work after only a few months on the job, San- sone said that reforms like the emergent curriculum, learning outcome frameworks (LOFs), secondary education applied curriculum (SEAC), and MAT- SEC reforms had been intro- duced "without proper consul- tation and minimal training to educators." "The situation is critical, and unless these reforms are stopped or drastically controlled, the educational system is bound to fail," the UPE head warned. "The MUT and MEDE are the accomplices in this failure," he said, adding that new education minister Owen Bonnici "has no choice but to prevent further dissatisfaction amongst educa- tors, or else Malta will continue to face an apocalyptical tragedy in education." Teachers' union and Education Ministry to blame for reforms 'rat race' - UPE