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8 NEWS ANALYSIS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 18 JANUARY 2023 JAMES DEBONO IT is no secret that a timid reform of abor- tion laws aimed at protecting women in cases where their life or health is in grave jeopardy has caused ripples inside Labour, with unease spreading from the President of the Republic, to the party's grassroots, particularly among a dormant, socially conservative constituency, for which abor- tion remains a taboo. There are historical reasons for this un- ease by some Labour voters. After its ep- ochal confrontation with the church hier- archy in the 1960s, Labour under Mintoff had to prove its Christian-socialist creden- tials in a Malta that was a deeply patriar- chal and conservative backwater. It there- fore settled in an easy co-existence with these values by steering clear of no-go are- as like divorce and abortion, limiting itself to introducing civil marriage, legalising contraception and decriminalising sod- omy – three steps which were still opposed by an obscurantist Nationalist opposition. And though even then some progres- sive elements inspired by the legalisation of abortion in Italy and France, did push for change even internally, these elements were sidelined as the party's line remained firmly against abortion. In short, the message to the grassroots was clear: on abortion the party still rep- resents the national popular sentiment and any attempt to depict the party as being pro-abortion is a lie peddled by the Nationalists and their allies to tarnish the party's image. For many rank-and-file Labourites, abortion also became a mark of Maltese exceptionalism, a sentiment which blended well with autarky, machis- mo and nationalism which characterised the Mintoffian era. Malta, largely un- touched by continental feminism and the sexual revolution in Europe, did not wit- ness the emergency of social movements pushing for reproductive rights. And neither was the Labour Party in di- rect contact with pro-choice European social democratic parties, as it has been since Malta joined the EU. In such an en- vironment, even party stalwarts grew up with the idea that their party is against any tinkering of abortion laws. So, one should not be surprised that people like George Vella, now President, remain adamantly against changing the status quo. From divorce to abortion Evarist Bartolo, himself a liberal and one of the architects of the watershed divorce referendum campaign, asks whether the anti-abortion movement will erode La- bour's coalition of voters in the same way as the PN's reaction to the pro-divorce movement had helped Labour win over a chunk of liberal PN voters. Ironically, in a reminder of the fluidity of politics, by pushing for divorce Evarist Bartolo himself had unsettled Labour's conservative wing – then represented by Marie Louise Coleiro Preca – who cam- paigned against its introduction. The party even ended up sidelining Adrian Vassal- lo, a vociferous ultra-conservative Labour MP who found himself isolated in a party which was busy building bridges with lib- eral elements in society. But while the divorce referendum was a watershed moment which opened the floodgates for more liberal reforms by weakening the hold of the Maltese Catho- lic church on society, one should not forget that one of the lies peddled by the anti-di- vorce camp was that the introduction of divorce would inevitably lead to abortion. To rebut this lie, pro divorce activists were often forced to overplay their oppo- sition to abortion, in a way which further postponed debate on an issue which unlike divorce, impacts mostly on women as the first casualties of political convenience. Despite facing some internal dissent, in the final electoral balance sheet, divorce carried a favourable balance for Labour with gains among more socially liberal for- mer PN voters offsetting any losses. Will it be the same with abortion? Probably it will be the case in the span of the next decade; but not in the immediate future. For while the debate on divorce evolved over dec- ades with Labour slowly responding to the changes in values in society, on abortion the party may be anticipating a change which is still brewing. Although the past decade has seen a shift in attitudes on abortion among the young and tertiary-educated, for many older rank-and-file Labour activists, the debate on abortion comes like an unexpected bolt from the blue. Yet this also presents an opportunity for Labour. For on this is- sue when compared to the PN, the party is more in tune with the mores of a new gen- eration of voters whose values are chang- ing radically in matters like female bodily autonomy. But this comes at a risk of alienating a segment of older voters genuinely troubled by pangs of conscience, which go beyond sheer subservience to church hierarchies. Indeed onre mistake of the pro-choice lobby would be to attribute opposition to abortion to clerical influence, ignoring the fact that such opposition is also rooted in a culture which presents motherhood as the inevitable destiny of women. In short by proposing a timid and cau- tiously-worded reform, Labour under Ab- ela could be ahead of its time, pushing the boundaries on an issue which remains ta- boo for older voters who are entrenched in their positions. Yet this also raises a crucial question: wasn't Labour since its infan- cy, the 'enlightened party' which pushed boundaries to change society in terms of civil liberties and women's rights? One may well argue that the party's super-ma- jority should give the party comfort that any losses on this issue would be enough to threaten its hold on power. The risk of backtracking Evarist Bartolo has asked whether the absence of an agreement with the Oppo- sition on the wording of the amendment, would inadvertently boost the prospects of the PN by galvanising a wider movement against abortion. This raises the ques- tion whether Labour should even seek an agreement with the Opposition to avoid such a prospect. But the cost of a retreat at this juncture may well be more damaging for Labour, signifying weakness in the face of a fron- tal assault by conservative forces in a way which could well demoralise progressives in and outside the party who have support- ed the reform. It would also raise anoth- er important question: why compromise on women's rights when the party has so willfully compromised its soul on more significant matters like the power of big business, so evident in planning decisions Can abortion really erode Labour's Labour grandee Evarist Bartolo has asked whether his party's handling of an amendment of Malta's outright ban on abortion is weakening the coalition that granted the party its super- majority since 2013. Could withdrawal on the abortion bill come at a greater cost to Robert Abela, or is the PN's capitalising on newfound unity turning off poential voters who dislike its anti-choice shenanigans?