Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1471699
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 MARCH 2022 OPINION 3 LETTERS & EDITORIAL maltatoday | SUNDAY • 26 JUNE 2022 Mikiel Galea Letters & Clarifications Abortion and tourism THE case of Andrea Prudente, the American woman refused an abortion to terminate a non-viable pregnancy due to the presence of a foetal heart- beat, has chilled me to the bone. The similarities to the heart-break- ing case of Savita Halappanavar, who died tragically and unnecessarily in my home country of Ireland almost ten years ago, are too many to overlook. Savita's death, after she had been de- nied the termination which might have saved her life, convulsed Ireland and resulted in the repeal, six years later, of our constitutional ban on abortion. It is to our eternal shame that it took a woman's death to make us act hu- manely. Will it take another woman's death to convince Malta to make its own compassionate changes and do the right thing? I visited your lovely island in Sep- tember of 2019 and plan to return this September. I had intended to bring my teenaged daughter with me but I fear I can longer do so, unless I am willing to insist that she produce a negative preg- nancy test before we leave home. Malta does not seem like a safe destination for anyone who could possibly be preg- nant right now. Bernie Linnane Dromahair, Ireland Nature restoration directive THE European Commission has pre- sented a legislative proposal on nature restoration, a new law with binding targets to restore degraded land and marine ecosystems across the EU. This is a major milestone to tackle the current biodiversity and climate crises and restore a healthy relation- ship between people and nature. The restoration law can be a ga- mechanger to turn the tide for endan- gered marine ecosys-tems and species, which are under increasing pressure in Europe. However, some flaws in the proposal need to be addressed – otherwise it is set to fail in the marine environment. The restoration law must particu- larly address the shortcomings in the implementation of the Common Fisheries Policy, which so far has not succeeded in tackling the damaging im-pacts of fishing as required under EU environmental laws. Restoring degraded seagrass mead- ows play a vital role in both mitigating climate change and reversing bio- diversity loss. However, there is no point restoring on the one hand, while bottom dredging through them and around them. We need to put in place strict protection measures to prevent these key areas from being destroyed by harmful human activities. Maltese NGOs should be among the foremost supporters of the Commis- sion's restoration law, especially for marine environments and rural sys- tems that support species under threat of extinction like the turtle dove. Jerome Niedmeyer, Rotterdam