Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1262267
3 LETTERS & EDITORIAL maltatoday | SUNDAY • 21 JUNE 2020 Mikiel Galea Letters & Clarifications The unborn child is a person IN her interview (MaltaToday, 18 May), gynaecologist Isabel Stabile argued that, "while abortion in Malta remains 'taboo' in political and even medical circles, public opinion on the issue is slowly shifting." Stabile came back to Malta as an obstetrician and gynaecologist after a long medical practice and very signifi- cant academic achievements in the US where reproductive health and abor- tion have been one and the same thing for many decades. Bernard Nathanson, a prominent American gynaecologist turned from pro-choice to pro-life after perform- ing 75,000 abortions. As a result of increasing science and technology, he said, he arrived at the conclusion that "the unborn child was a person… As a physician, pledged to save my patients' lives, not to destroy them, I changed my mind on the subject of abortion. There was nothing religious about it." Stabile was told: "The pro-choice argument is often countered by the general view that 'life begins at con- ception'; and that, therefore, a newly conceived embryo should have the same rights as a fully developed hu- man being." She replied: "This is a long-held mis- conception. Life is a continuum. Sharp boundaries may be convenient, but they are inadequate and arbitrary. Like many biological developments the transition from fertilised egg to adult human is shown by a steady upward curve." Quoting a British philosopher she continued: "In terms of the rights of an early embryo/fetus, bearers of rights must at least have the capacity to desire what they have a right to. We know that awareness requires a so- phisticated neural network, which has been shown to develop by around six months of pregnancy. Given that these neural pathways are not yet developed, the concept that the early embryo/fe- tus could possibly be aware of its own existence seems very far-fetched." The fault lines in Stabile's reasoning, I feel, can be seen when applied to a battlefield. When the fighting stops the general of the army can send a group of soldiers, with pistols in their hands, to identify all wounded and unconscious soldiers whose neural pathways are not functioning properly because of serious injuries inflicted by enemy fire. These are definitely una- ware of their existence. The soldiers can, then, fire at their unconscious comrades to end their wretched lives, because they are of no more use to the army. No. Army generals of civilised nations have also field hospitals equipped with all categories of medical people and the necessary complemen- tary supplies, to treat their wounded and unconscious soldiers to try to revive, and restore, them to normal health. This because wounded and uncon- scious soldiers are not fractured bat- tlefield tanks which can be abandoned, to rot and decay. Wounded and un- conscious soldiers, though unaware of their existence, are persons, with hu- man dignity, who deserve, and ought to be given, all the needed medical and other treatment to recover, thrive and flourish, again. And that's what happens. When advocating for a law allowing abortions in Malta can Stabile really claim that she is fulfilling her felt ob- ligation towards "child health issues, and most especially infant mortality"? Does she really think that she and her colleagues are convincing public opin- ion in Malta to support the deliberate abortion of unborn children? I don't think so. One social survey after another and innumerable comments on the social media have been showing very clearly, and consistently, for a very long time, that the Maltese people, in their very big majority, have really made up their minds about rejecting abortion. Tony Mifsud, Coordinator, Malta Unborn Child Platform