Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1485769
15 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 NOVEMBER 2022 NEWS Labour should be intellectual- ly honest Faced with the PN's intransi- gence and extremism, Labour is in a comfortable position where anything it says on the issue appears more moderate, more empathic, and more sen- sible than statements made by Grech. But this should not be an ex- cuse for not being intellectually honest. For there is an element of dishonesty in giving the im- pression that the change of law is just a technical response to a legal anomaly. While it is true that a reference to protecting the health – physical and men- tal – and not just the life of the woman, was necessary to pre- vent situations where doctors are left in an anomalous situ- ation to wait until some immi- nent threat to life to intervene (as happened in the Prudente case), one cannot escape the re- ality that this change does open a can of worms. For example back in 2007 when Poland still allowed women to have an abortion when the health of a mother was at risk, the European Court of Human Rights had award- ed a Polish woman more than $30,000 in damages after she was refused an abortion de- spite warnings from her doctor that continuing the pregnancy could cause her to go blind. Al- icja Tysiac suffered from severe myopia, and when she became pregnant for the third time in 2000, she consulted three oph- thalmologists who each con- cluded her eyesight would be damaged further if she carried the pregnancy to term. Howev- er, despite Tysiac's requests, all three doctors refused to issue a certificate for the pregnan- cy to be terminated on medi- cal grounds, according to the court. After giving birth Tysiac suffered a retinal hemorrhage which caused her vision to de- teriorate significantly and she has been declared disabled by a panel of doctors. At that time Poland only permitted abor- tion in cases of rape or incest, fetal abnormality, or danger to the life or health of the wom- an. The court ruled that Poland had no effective legal frame- work for pregnant women to assert their right to abortion on medical grounds. This clearly shows that by al- lowing abortion in cases where the health of the mother is at risk, Malta is also opening it- self to similar legal cases if the State applies a very strict in- terpretation of the new law by limiting it to "grave" threats. Instead, what Labour should be saying is that no women should risk blindness or even suicide in cases where a pregnancy threatens the mental health of the mother. And while the 80 academ- ics signing a petition express- ing concern on the proposed law have a point in calling for clarifications on how to define "grave jeopardy" to "life and health" in the new law, suggest- ing that serious mental condi- tions suffered by the mother are not sufficient reasons to terminate a pregnancy, not on- ly ignores the risk of perinatal suicides but underrates the importance of mental health issues. This is where Labour should stand up to be counted. Labour needs to choose between sitting on the fence by playing neutral, and standing up for women's rights. Surely it does not have a mandate to introduce abortion on demand, but as a progres- sive party it has to eventually earn such a mandate. And with the PN lurching to the hard right on such an is- sue, it can still afford to sit on the fence. For anything Chris Fearne and Robert Abela say on this issue, is bound to sound more sensible and moderate than the PN's absolutism. jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt The PN's conservative lurch could push more of these voters to Labour. Instead of challenging the government over the poor record of the police force on domestic violence, the PN diverted public attention on its ideological aversion to female bodily autonomy Maltese electorates tend to be more insular and anti-abortion feelings remain deep, but surveys already show a chasm in outlooks on this issue between older and younger people, and tertiary-educated voters who agree with its decriminalization ADPD supports the proposed changes to allow an abortion to take place if a woman's life or health are at risk but be- lieves they should go further. ADPD said the proposals put forward by the govern- ment are "half-baked" and fail to address current reali- ties although they are "a step in the right direction". The Green Party wants abortion to be available in the case of other extraordinary circumstances such rape, in- cest and where the pregnancy is not viable. "These proposals should be considered as a substan- tial improvement on those presented in parliament this week," ADPD said. Health Minister Chris Fearne and Justice Minister Jonathan Attard have tabled in parliament the First Read- ing of an amendment to the Criminal Code that makes it possible for doctors to carry out an abortion if the wom- an's life and health are in danger. The amendment clarifies that neither doctors nor the woman would be criminally liable if an abortion is carried out in these circumstances. The government move came in the wake of the Andrea Prudente case earlier this year. Prudente, an American tourist on holiday in Malta, started miscarrying and de- spite doctors telling her the pregnancy was no longer vi- able would not carry out an abortion because the foetus still registered a heartbeat. The decision not to abort put her at serious risk of develop- ing sepsis. She was eventually flown out of Malta and terminated her pregnancy in Spain. ADPD Chairperson Carmel Cacopardo said the propos- al presented by government does not offer the opportuni- ty for a mature discussion in the country. He said many Maltese wom- en resort to abortion every year through the purchase of pills online, which they self-administer without a doctor's consultation. Cacopardo said the amend- ment proposed by govern- ment gives legal clarity to the principle that has been practiced, which seeks to safeguard a woman's life but called for legislation to be up- dated to reflect the progress that has taken place in the medical and scientific fields. "A mature debate should consider how the circum- stances that would permit medical intervention to safe- guard the life and health of the mother are defined in the clearest manner possible," Cacopardo said. ADPD Deputy Chairper- son Sandra Gauci said wom- en who resort to an abortion require empathy, rather than being considered as crimi- nals. "Within this context, we have campaigned for decrim- inalisation to enable wom- en considering an abortion to seek assistance. Togeth- er with a stronger emphasis on sexual and reproductive health education across all levels of the education system, the discussion about abortion should reflect the ethical plu- ralism that we now have in our country which has led to the introduction of divorce, IVF as well as the recognition of LGBTIQ rights that ADPD has been insisting upon since its inception," Gauci said. ADPD believes 'half-baked' abortion law changes should go further