Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1503087
THIS week saw the so-called abortion Bill approved unani- mously by the House of Repre- sentatives. The approved law, in fact, signifies a most telling historic U-turn. In short Prime Minister Robert Abela decided to significantly change the law from what had been originally proposed. The approved Bill is very differ- ent from the Bill that was orig- inally presented late last year, and which would have original- ly allowed terminations when a mother's health was in 'grave jeopardy', without indicating what this actually means. The revised version of the Bill was welcomed by pro-life ac- tivists, the Opposition and the Church; but it was condemned by pro-choice campaigners, who have accused the government of 'betraying' women. President George Vella, who had declared that he would rath- er resign than sign an abortion law, had made it clear he was not happy with the Bill's original wording. The new law allows doctors to carry out an abortion if a wom- an's life is at immediate risk or her health is in 'grave jeopardy which may lead to her death'. Terminations can only take place once all other treatments have been exhausted and the decision must be taken by three specialists except in emergency cases. Even with this new law, Malta will still have one of the strictest abortion laws in the world and abortion will remain illegal under all other circumstances including rape, incest and severe foetal ab- normalities. Polls suggest that younger peo- ple in Malta are more amenable to be pro-choice than older citi- zens. As an old citizen myself, I feel that abortion should not be resorted to as a matter of prin- ciple. Yet, I acknowledge that there are particular circumstanc- es when it should be morally ac- ceptable, such as in the case of a mother carrying an unviable foe- tus. From a political angle, I feel that Robert Abela's administra- tion was misled about the current mood about abortion. Otherwise the original Bill would not have been proposed. Many were angry at what they perceived as the government's blatant attempt to introduce 'abortion by stealth'. The govern- ment's argument that its original Bill was not intended to introduce abortion was undermined by pro- choice NGOs who referred to the Bill as one introducing abortion in limited circumstances. Polls showed clearly that the majority of people - and the ma- jority of Labour voters - were against the introduction of abor- tion in Malta. The pressure made by the President against the pro- posed legislation was also telling. Robert Abela had no choice but to practically withdraw the origi- nal proposals by heavily diluting the effects of the Bill in order to avoid a political crisis that would only have led to Labour losing a lot of votes. This is not the end of the sto- ry, however. I think that as more people in the older bracket pass away, abortion will become even more acceptable and eventual- ly it will be introduced in Malta. Whether this will happen in my lifetime or later is for destiny to decide, but I have no doubt that the day will come when abortion is introduced even in Malta. Freedom for artists Last week I wrote that I smelled a rat when I heard of the an- nouncement of a proposed Bill 'to continue strengthening the freedom of artistic expression.' Now that the Bill has been pub- lished, I can only regrettably con- firm that my suspicions were on the right track. The proposed law is discrimina- tory and makes a mockery of our constitutional right for freedom of expression. The Bill which was published last Tuesday says it proposes changes to the law 'to provide for the enhanced protection of artis- tic expression and in particular to provide for the avoidance of the misuse of the criminal justice sys- tem for the suppression of such form of expression'. According to the two ministers - Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri and Culture Minister Owen Bonnici - freedom of ex- pression will be protected and it will allow artistic, satirical or comic expression 'which does not include any credible or real- istic threat to the personal liberty or security of the complainant or to his property.' The Bill also provides for the protection of whoever makes or publishes statements on an elec- tronic communications network or apparatus, which will not be deemed as being offensive 'if they are uttered or published as part of artistic, satirical or com- ic expression and do not include credible and realistic threat to the personal liberty or security of any person or to a person's property.' Is a satirical sentence in the middle of a serious newspaper article part of an 'artistic, satiri- cal or comic expression'? I don't think it is. Hence it is not covered by the law. During a press conference on Monday, Minister Bonnici said that the law has a wide applica- tion, and covers all that is said or published in the spirit of satire on any medium while Minister Camilleri said that the govern- ment aims to pass these amend- ments prior to the suspension of parliament for the summer recess. 'We want to live in a country which embraces the liberty of artists,' Minister Camilleri was reported as saying. On the other hand, I want to live in a country which embraces the liberty of all its citizens. Groundwater extraction A recent study published in Ge- ophysical Research Letters, a sci- entific journal, has shed light on the significant impact of ground- water extraction on the Earth's rotational axis and its contribu- tion to global sea-level rise. The Earth's geographic North and South Poles are not fixed as the poles fluctuate due to variations in the Earth's mass distribution. In the past, it was thought that the poles' drift was only caused by natural forces like ocean currents and the convec- tion of heated rock deep beneath the Earth. But the study points out to the possibility that the redistribution of groundwater as the primary culprit for the drift. Ground- water pumping has tilted Earth nearly 80cm east between 1993 and 2010 alone. In that period, humans pumped 2,150 gigatons of groundwater, equivalent to more than 6 millimeters of sea level increase. The findings emphasize the need to address groundwater de- pletion and its consequences on a global scale and underscore the importance of considering it as a crucial factor in analyzing Earth's rotational dynamics and rising sea levels. 7 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 2 JULY 2023 OPINION Historic U-turn Michael Falzon micfal45@gmail.com The revised version of the Bill was welcomed by pro-life activists, the Opposition and the Church