Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/197223
4 News maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 23 OCTOBER 2013 European Parliament votes against legalisation of abortion THE European Parliament yesterday voted against a report that recommended that high- _______ _______ STOCK TAL TAL-GVERN MALTA GOVERNMENT STOCKS Secure Investment Issue of €120,000,000 in Fixed Rate Malta Government Stocks (subject to the over-allotment option of an additional sum of €60,000,000) Fixed Rate Malta Government Stocks (i) 3% MGS (Third Issue) – Fungibility Issue Maturing in 2019, and (ii) 4.65% MGS (First Issue) Maturing in 2032, or (iii) Any combination of the above two Stocks which in the aggregate shall be € 120,000,000 Applications open on Monday 28th October, 2013 at 8.30 a.m. and close on the time and dates as hereunder, or earlier at the discretion of the Accountant General: • at 5.00 p.m. on Wednesday 30th October, 2013 for applications by any single and/or joint applicants which in the aggregate do not exceed €100,000 per person, and • at 12.00 (noon) on Monday 4th November, 2013 for applications in the form of sealed bids (auction). The Price for each Stock at (i) and (ii) above offered for subscription by members of the public shall be established on Thursday 24th October 2013, based indicatively on the prevailing secondary market prices, and shall be announced through a Press Release issued by the Department of Information (DOI). Application forms may be obtained from, and lodged at, all Members of the Malta Stock Exchange and other authorized Investment Service Providers on the indicated dates. Application forms may also be downloaded from the Treasury's website at www.treasury.gov.mt with effect from Friday 25th October, 2013. Bids on the prescribed forms are to be deposited in the Treasury Tender Box or transmitted by fax on 2596 7210 or by e-mail at the e-mail addresses indicated on the application forms. MALTA GOVERNMENT STOCK FOR SAFE INVESTMENT AND LIQUIDITY WITH INTEREST PAID UP TO THE DAY OF RE-SALE OF STOCK. SECURITY CONTINUOUS LIQUIDITY INTEREST EVERY SIX MONTHS (The value of the investment may go up or down during the tenor of the Stock.) Treasury Department, The Mall Building, The Mall - Floriana, Malta. quality abortion services become legal, safe, and accessible to all within the public health systems of EU member states. In all, 351 MEPs voted in favour of referring the resolution, which was prepared by the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality, while 319 MEPs voted against. Earlier this week, the Maltese MPs – including the Labour Party members of parliament – said they would be voting against the report. The motion stated that such services should also be available for non-resident women, who often sought such services in other countries due to restrictive abortion laws in their country of origin, and to avoid clandestine abortions that seriously endangered women's physical and mental health. It stressed that it was essential for individual, social and economic development that women have the right to decide freely and responsibly the number, timing and spacing of their children, as established by international human rights law. ]SUBHEAD[ 'Abortion is not an EU competence' – Bishops The Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Union has said that abortion does not fall under the competences of the European Union and should stop allowing EU citizens to believe so. COMECE, which is made up of 26 bishops representing all the member states of the EU, came out with this statement in relation to yesterday's vote on abortion by the European Parliament on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, which deals with topics such as abortion. "In many EU member states abortion is illegal. Out of consideration for human dignity and the conviction that right to life is absolute, abortion is banned by law. The EU should respect and not interfere with decisions that do not fall within its sphere of competence," it said. "COMECE deplores the fact that the report put to vote today may confuse EU citizens on the remit of the union competences. With elections to the European Parliament on the horizon, EU citizens need to be reassured that the EU will stick with its legal competences," it said. Download the MaltaToday App now