Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1306522
13 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 4 NOVEMBER 2020 OPINION ON the 22nd October, Poland's constitutional tribunal ruled that abortions due to fetal malforma- tion will no longer be allowed. This sparked outrage across the continent, and the move was de- scribed as a violation of human rights by Dunja Mijatovic, the Council of Europe's Commis- sioner for Human Rights. Abortion was already highly re- stricted in Poland but this addi- tional ban has made a difficult sit- uation worse. The ones impacted by the ban on abortion in cases of fetal malformation are not wom- en with unwanted pregnancies, who would have terminated the pregnancy in the first few weeks of pregnancy regardless of the il- legality of on-demand abortions. The ones impacted are in fact couples with very much wanted pregnancies who receive the dev- astating news that their offspring will have a severe malformation and may not survive more than a few hours after birth. As already happens in Malta, these Polish couples will now be forced to bring the fetus to term, only to then watch their baby struggle and die. Giving birth to a malformed fetus, especially if the head is de- formed, poses additional risks to the woman in labour and may put her life at risk. The least a decent society could offer such people is the option to humanely terminate the pregnancy. But the reality is that, even after this ban, Poland's abortion law is still more humane than Malta's. Poland still allows abortion in cases of rape, incest, or when the woman's life is at risk. Malta's abortion law has no such excep- tions, and women who become pregnant as a result of sexual crime have no option but to give birth. Malta is the only EU state with a ban on abortion as a result of rape – a ban that in effect assists the abuser in inflicting maximum damage and disruption on their victim's lives. We would also like to point out that Poland's law does not crim- inalise women who terminate their own pregnancy. Penalties are only levied against those who help women get abortions or doc- tors who perform the abortion. Malta's law prescribes women who have an abortion a jail term of three years. So yes, despite all the negative attention it has attracted, Poland's abortion law is still more humane than that of fellow EU state Mal- ta. We therefore make no apology for calling out the hypocrisy of our prime minister when he de- scribed Malta as a "champion of civil rights," while he maintains the most repressive reproductive laws and policies in Europe. What we are seeing in Poland is of no surprise. It is part of a coor- dinated assault on women's rights and minorities by a populist Pol- ish government which is locked in several disputes with the Euro- pean Commission. Civil rights are being reversed in the name of national identity and traditionalism, to the detriment of so many Polish citizens and residents. On the other hand, it is sur- prising that Malta continues to defend its complete ban on abor- tion, which is so incongruous with the norms in Europe, while at the same time pretending to be a "champion of civil rights." The progress Malta has made in LGBT rights and equality is undisputed and worthy of praise, but if our government truly be- lieves in civil rights and personal freedoms it cannot continue de- nying women the right to bodily autonomy. Until women are giv- en the right to control their lives and futures, there can be no true gender equality in our country. We know change to Malta's abortion laws will happen even- tually. For the sake of women and couples who are suffering, we can only hope it does not take too long. As the world looks at Poland, women in Malta have it worse Christopher Barbara Dr Christopher Barbara is a member of Doctors for Choice Malta