Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1502123
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 25 JUNE 2023 COMMENT The Skinny Malta, shrunk down EDITORIAL An injustice in slow motion PAGE 2 JOSANNE CASSAR Titan tragedy: Why the schadenfreude just because they were billionaires? PAGE 6 The consumer landscape is a major indicator of things as they stand in the retail, packaged goods and random services sectors - Julia Farrugia Portelli PAGE 12 What are we skinning? The Health and Justice Ministries announcing the watered-down version of the so-called 'abor- tion' bill, which now proposes that pregnancies can only be terminated when a woman's life is at unambiguous risk, and only following the sign-off of no less than three medical professionals. Why are we skinning it? Because it offers a snapshot of a nation -- or at least, a political class -- which remains unprepared to take the bold leap into full bodily autonomy for women, largely be- cause the anti-abortion crusade remains a leftover identity mark- er for a society that is otherwise undergoing rapid -- and admit- tedly, not always egalitarian or pleasant -- changes. This isn't going to be a funny one, is it? Well, much like the rollercoasters and U-turns which have characterised the trajectory of this particular debate, that re- mains to be seen. So hold on to your hat. Has it really been a rollercoast- er though? I mean, the fact that we've discussed abortion at length over the past year or so is already a significant leap from the country's general tone on the subject, even up to five years ago or so. Yeah but we've kind of just cir- cled back to the status quo, hav- en't we? The picture among civil society groups from both sides of the divide very much points in that direction, alas. What did they say, then? As you can imagine, the amendment being announced just this Friday didn't deter our intrepid journal- ists from getting the feelers out among the bulk of activists with skin in this particular game. That includes... Well, literally everyone. The pro-life and pro- choice camp. Political parties large and small. The Church. The verdict, then? The an- ti-choice lobbies sighed a col- lective sigh of relief. Their pro- choice counterparts buried their heads in their hands, some of them even calling this an active regression from the previous norm. No revolutionary fervour from ei- ther side, then? No, but it was ev- ident in another, curious quarter. Which would that be? Prime Min- ister Robert Abela himself. Oh? Yes, Abela referred to the revised amendment as noth- ing short of a marker of epochal change, claiming that the La- bour Party had "made history" in pushing it forward. I guess it certainly... did some- thing. I suppose Abela's cabinet *should* be credited with at least acknowledging that an issue ex- isted. That is the literal definition of the bare minimum. It's what we've come to expect from this particular government on any is- sue that inspires even a modicum of queasiness. Why do you think that is? Re- member that Abela came into power in the wake of cataclys- mic corruption allegations that toppled his predecessor, while a limp Opposition failed to make inroads either way. So he's the continuity candidate of a poisoned chalice. And rock- ing the boat at this time would be at the very bottom of his list of priorities. Do say: "While some movement on this front is always welcome, a watered-down amendment like the one being presented only strengthens the idea that Mal- ta has a long way to go if it is to shed it regressive image on this matter, and that a cautious lead- er like Abela is the least likely figurehead to spearhead any rev- olutionary changes." Don't say: "They've destroyed our village cores and skylines, invaded our beaches with deck- chairs, disincentivised the Mal- tese working class from dignified conditions at traditional working class jobs... and now they want to take away our anti-abortion badge too?! Over my dead body." The Skinny - No. 197 - Aborting Progress MICHAEL FALZON What is artistic expression? PAGE 7 SAVIOUR BALZAN The George Vella touch PAGE 5