Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1337056
3 LETTERS & EDITORIAL maltatoday | SUNDAY • 7 FEBRUARY 2021 Mikiel Galea Letters & Clarifications Support for EDF statement 10 years ago, the United Nation Con- vention on the Rights of Persons with Disability (UNCRPD) came into force at the European Union level. It has led to major changes in how the rights of persons with disability are dealt with at European, international and national levels. MFOPD supports the European Dis- ability Forum's (EDF) statement that "It is time to make sure laws are adopted, laws are enforced, people are empow- ered, and funding is invested". Helena Dalli, the European Commis- sioner for Equality declares, "Our am- bitions will require everyone's commit- ment. The (EU Disability) strategy will be the point of reference for the EU, all governments, social partners, civil society and the private sector. It will make it easier to work together on our commitments, including in dialogue and partnership with persons with disabilities. It will ensure that persons with disabilities can participate equally in all areas of life. "Our commitment and action in this area of policy will be another important step towards a Union of Equality. I will work closely with all EU Member States to make the EU a model of inclusion, accessibility and human rights. "Nothing about persons with disa- bilities should happen without their involvement. They will be part of the dialogue and part of the process." The Malta Federation of Organisa- tions Persons with Disability (MFOPD) is the national umbrella organisation for the disability sector. It is the voice of, approximately, 37,000 persons with disability in the Maltese islands. It has 33 enrolled member organisations all working within the disability sector. Marthese Mugliette President, MFOPD Smokescreen for evil I took Prof. Isabel Stabile's clue to read the manifesto of the pro-choice group's credo, but was spared the trouble be- cause of their heraldic introduction of people who disagree with the dictates of the Vatican related to sex, marriage, family life and motherhood. So that was an attempt of a person who doesn't know what to say next to spread her message. No sane person would believe that practicing the Roman Catholic religion, certainly a force for good, in the Ten Commandments, in the beatitudes and in the Gospel can be worse than com- mitting abortion. The following two quotations are only a scintilla of the massive cloud of condemnation that have always been attributed to abortion: "A nation that kills its own children is a nation with- out hope (John Paul II). "Abortion isn't a lesser evil, it is a crime. Taking one to save another, that's what the Mafia does. It's a crime, it's an absolute evil." (Pope Francis). No man in good conscience can favour abortion. Our world is soaked with the blood of the innocent and it must stop. That fundamental human right has been consistently championed for 2,000 years by the Catholic Church. The right to choose is a smokescreen for perpetuating an entire industry that profits from one of the most heinous evils imaginable. If such a tsunami of universal philosophy does not convince the pro-choice group all I can say is that "restraining them is like restraining the wind or grasping oil with the hand" (Prov.27:16). But with prayers and with God, nothing is impossible. Let them hear this prayer in the words of Jean Yvette Calvez S.J. "Father of all creation, nothing is insignificant for you, no hardened heart impedes you from loving it. It was your will that you need everybody. Teach me to dis- cover the wonders of every child, man and woman: the beauty, the goodness, the grace, the light and life; even in the most distressed and tormented face, there is your light." I never cease to wonder about St Au- gustine's conversion (a slow one) and St Paul's lightning metamorphosis (an instant one). Their collaboration with the grace of God was enough for them. Is that really you, God who can do such things? John Azzopardi Zabbar