Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1500676
HANG on, I'm a little confused. What happened, you see, was this: last Thursday, NGO 'Voices for Choice' issued a press release to announce that: "a Maltese woman was brought to court after facing criminal charges that she self-managed a medical abortion at home. [...] She was today found guilty, and given a conditional discharge for three years by our courts of law." The heading of the PR was: "This should never have hap- pened!"; and as one might ex- pect, from an organisation that is eponymously 'pro-choice' (and which has been demand- ing the complete decriminal- isation of abortion, ever since its inception three years ago) the rest was somewhat... shall we say, 'scathing': "Today was an outrageous and painful reminder that this is not unthinkable, that it has happened, and can happen to any pregnant person who has an abortion through any means in our country..." "If more evidence was needed that our country stands out as a pariah and a violator of wom- en's rights, this is it: a wom- an was charged with a crime for something that has been acknowledged as a right and essential healthcare by practi- cally every other modern dem- ocratic country decades ago, as well as every human rights and healthcare organisation in the world..." "There cannot be talk of equality as long as women and persons who could get preg- nant continue to be regarded by the state as incubators and second class citizens..." "Enough is enough! Down with the Patriarchy! Uterus- es of the world, UNITE AND TAKE OVER!!!" Oh, Ok: I made that last one up myself. (And even then: just to inject a little 'comic relief', into what is already a rather de- pressing topic to actually write about...) But you get the general idea, all the same. To the great sur- prise of absolutely no one at all, in the entire Universe: Malta's pro-choice lobby was (to say the least) 'infuriated' at the very idea that a woman could be ar- rested, charged, prosecuted, and eventually convicted, over something that they themselves - quite rightly, in my own view – regard as a 'health issue'... and not as a 'crime', at all. So far, so good. And certainly, nothing to feel even remotely confused about. No, the confusing part came later. One day later, to be pre- cise: when the Prime Minister was interviewed at the close of the 'State of the Nation' con- ference last Friday; and at one point – unprompted by any specific question by Lou Bondi – he decided to comment di- rectly about the above case. These were his exact words: "I'm the type of person who is deeply concerned about – and hurt by – social injustice. There was a case this week [...] in which a woman, a prospective mother, was convicted over abortion in our country. And funnily enough [Alla jbierek], hardly anyone even spoke up about it. Now: I have read the sentence; and when you see the specific circumstances surrounding this case... they are shocking. We are talking about a young woman who suf- fers from very serious mental health issues; and a medical in- spection also revealed that she also bore physical injuries. She was in an abusive relationship with her partner: who was the one who reported her [to the police], when she took what- ever pills she took, to end her trauma... and she was arraigned before the law-courts: which, through no fault of their own, had no option but to find her guilty. "So what we said would nev- er happen, has happened. Am I comfortable with this situa- tion? No, I'm not..." Erm... see what I mean? There's a certain 'similari- ty', wouldn't you say, between Robert Abela's choice of words, in that comment... and a 'Voice For Choice' press release, that had only just been published the day before? "This should never have hap- pened!" "What we said would never happen, has happened...!" It's almost as though Rob- ert Abela was actually trying to quote the title of that PR, verbatim... but somehow, the words came out all jumbled up. And besides: even without that curious verbal assonance, it remains a fact that the Prime Minister was echoing at least the SUBSTANCE of what was said by 'Voices For Choice', al- most to the letter. So much so, that you could almost switch the two speak- ers around, entirely... and it wouldn't make a jot of differ- ence, at all! "What we said would never happen, has happened..." "Today was an outrageous and painful reminder that this [criminal prosecution for abor- tion] is not unthinkable, that it has happened..." Leaving aside, of course, that the Prime Minister also seems to share the pro-choice lobby's general sentiments, on the sub- ject of abortion being a 'social injustice'. The only difference is that, where the NGO was positively 'outraged' by the enactment of Chapter 9, Article 243 of the Criminal Code... Robert Abe- la was merely 'hurt', and 'sad- dened'. In all other respects, howev- er: their reactions were not just 'similar', but... IDENTICAL. Uncanny, isn't it? Especially when you also consider that the two entities we find our- selves unaccountably com- paring, here – Prime Minister Robert Abela in one corner; and 'Voices For Choice' in the other – have never quite been 'on the same page' before, when it comes to their views on abor- tion (and the criminalisation thereof). In fact: when I mentioned, earlier, that the pro-choice lob- by had been 'demanding the complete decriminalisation of abortion', for years... who do you think those demands were actually directed towards, in the first place? I'll give you all a hint: it wasn't 'Allen, Sven, Kyle, Nate, Dale, Chelsea, Sabrina, Gabrielle, Marie Christine, Nicola', or any other contestant of TVM's 'Love Island'. (And no, it wasn't Ben Camille, either. More's the pity...). Yup, folks, you got it! it was Robert Abela, that's who it was! You know: the same Prime Minister who has refused to ever even so much as 'discuss' the decriminalisation of abor- tion, in all the time that NGO has been practically begging him to (and still is, by the way: that same press release actual- maltatoday | SUNDAY • 4 JUNE 2023 10 OPINION If Robert Abela is so 'uncomfortable' with that why doesn't he just change the law? Raphael Vassallo "Today was an outrageous and painful reminder that this is not unthinkable, that it has happened..." - Robert Abela Robert Abela