Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/987872
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 30 MAY 2018 6 NEWS ANALYSIS SEVEN years after the wa- tershed divorce referendum, which saw Malta turn a page on its confessional past, the Demo- cratic Party has touted the idea of an abrogative referendum against embryo freezing. Speaking in parliament a month ago Godfrey Farrugia hinted that the Democratic Party would seek to hold a referendum on the le- galisation of embryo freezing if the government steamrolled the amendments into law, Judging by the size of the crowd in a protest held against the new IVF law in April, the strong net- works linking pro-life groups and the sense of purpose of those who would like the new law reversed, it will not be difficult to collect the required number of signa- tures (30,000-35,000). Moreover, pro-life views transcend the par- tisan divide. This could be one of the few issues where a category of Labour voters – who are al- ready represented by eminent voices like that of the party's for- mer deputy leader George Vella – may be ready to defy the par- ty's leadership. But would that be enough to sway public opinion? A gamble for the pro-life movement Opinion polls show that a vast majority of the Maltese are against abortion even in extreme cases like rape. This suggests that opposing abortion is still norma- tive in Malta. The pro-life movement may well bank on surveys showing a very strong majority against abortion. But such an assessment is based on the assumptions that people equate embryo freezing with abortion. Therefore, one would expect that the pro-life lobby would base its entire campaign on creating equivalence between the wastage of fertilised embryonic cells, to which they attribute full human personhood and abortion. Yet it remains to be seen wheth- er the public will make such an equivalence. For it may be diffi- cult to compare the termination of pregnancies by those who do not want to have children, and embryo freezing by those who actually want to have children. Sure enough there are other contentious issues related to the new IVF bill, including surroga- cy and obliging couples to offer embryos for adoption, on which even liberals and feminists may have reservations. But it is clear that the most emotional issue is related to embryo freezing; the process through which the fertilised cells are stored in liquid nitrogen for extended periods. In reality by creating equiva- lence between abortion and em- bryo freezing, the pro-life move- ment would end up taking a big risk if their bid fails. For without intending so, they would have turned embryo freez- ing into a 'do or die' issue. If they lose, abortion may really end up on the political agenda. For their defeat would have exposed their weakness. On the other hand if they win they would have sent a strong and chilling message that the secularisation process initiated seven years ago with the divorce referendum has reached a limit and that any legislation perceived to undermine the sanctity of life is a no-go area. In this sense, al- though abortion is presently not on the political agenda, an IVF referendum may well determine whether it will be on the agenda in the near future. The Irish lesson Although it did not come as a surprise that Ireland voted to re- peal the 1983 constitutional ban on abortion, nobody expected that two thirds of the electorate would back this step. The scale of victory was remi- niscent of Italy's own abortion referendum in 1981 when 68% rejected the prohibition of abor- tion, substantially more than the 59% who rejected the prohibi- tion of divorce in 1974. In Ireland and Italy what made a big difference was that an ab- stract moral principle was set against real life stories and di- lemmas faced by women in daily life. Prime Minister Leo Varadkar himself credited the personal stories of women denied abor- tions, including their trials of travelling abroad for the proce- dure, with swaying the public to vote Yes. "Ireland is a small country and politics are a personal business to a degree that only a small coun- try can afford. That is why the referendum was won by people telling their personal stories, in public or to friends and fami- lies," Graham Finlay, a lecturer at the University College Dublin's School of Politics and Interna- tional Relations told Politico. Moreover, Irish public opinion was also shaped by harrowing stories of women denied abor- tion despite having their lives at risk. Images of butchered foetuses Images of foetuses and babies were everywhere in Ireland, purportedly begging from lamp- posts and billboards to be spared from what has been called by more than one anti-abortion campaigner a "Holocaust." Still people were more ready to iden- tify with the dilemmas faced by their daughters, nieces or next- door neighbours. Pro-life groups in Malta would have an even more daunting task in presenting images of frozen embryos, which have not even taken a human form. Moreover, depicting women who actually want to have children, as baby killers would backfire especially in a small country where every- one is bound to have someone in his or her family who has experi- enced infertility. Lessons from hunting and divorce The pro-life movement in Malta would also risk making the same assumptions made by the No campaign in the divorce and hunting referendums. In the case of the divorce refer- endum, while the yes campaign offered a new prospect of hap- piness to separated people and cohabiting couples, the no cam- paign defended an ideal but ab- stract concept of marriage. While the yes campaign gave a new chance in life to thousands of separated people without tak- ing anything from those who are happily married, the no cam- paign was bent on denying this opportunity to a sizeable cat- egory. The hunting lobby also man- aged to depict environmental- ists campaigning against spring hunting as an arrogant bunch denying hunters (and eventually other hobbyists) from one of the few joys of their life. In a small country where eve- ryone may have a hunter or a hobbyist in his family, this was bound to backfire. This is why a referendum trig- gered by opinion polls showing a vast majority against spring hunting ended up in a very close race. The ultimate lesson from Mal- ta's recent history is that referen- da meant to grant new rights and joys to people, are more success- ful than referenda which deny rights and joys in the name of a moral principle. One may argue that this could open a dangerous precedent, which puts ethical considera- tions at the mercy of a political circus. But in itself it is an argu- ment against invoking a popular referendum on a complicated is- sue like IVF. Lashing against embryo freez- ing can easily be interpreted as a way of denying one of the great- est joys of life; that of giving birth. One can easily imagine a power- ful communicator like Joseph Muscat trashing opponents with such an argument. This makes a referendum on the issue a minefield for those proposing it and particularly dangerous for the Nationalist Party which would not like to al- ienate more categories of voters in a highly charged single-issue referendum. The PN would benefit more by appealing to the pro-life vote in a general election, where it can rely on other issues to sway other kinds of voters. The Church too may also be wary of a referendum in which its voice may well be drowned by more extreme voices more akin to US style evangelism than to moderate Catholicism which strives to build bridges with mo- dernity instead of engaging in culture wars. For the pro-life lobby this may be a case of 'be careful what you ask for'. Collecting signatures to invoke such a referendum may well be the easy part. Campaign- ing against people who actu- ally wish to have children of their own may well backfire. Why a referendum on IVF would be a big gamble The Irish referendum has shown that human stories of women grappling with real life dilemmas carry more weight than abstract principles and scaremongering. Does the local pro-life movement risk a waterloo by invoking a referendum to repeal amendments to the Embryo Protection Act? JAMES DEBONO would be a big gamble JAMES DEBONO In reality by creating equivalence between abortion and embryo freezing, the pro-life movement would end up taking a big risk if their bid fails