The rights of the unborn child

This hot topic has again been given prominence by a resolution approved earlier this month by the European Parliament on women's sexual and reproductive health and rights.

The draft resolution highlighted the inequalities existing within EU member states in attitudes towards family planning and contraception, reproductive health, sex education, abortion and pregnancy.

While noting that legislation on reproductive health is a matter for the member states, the Women's Rights Committee of the European Parliament believes that the EU can help by facilitating exchanges of information on best practice "in order to safeguard women's reproductive health and rights" and therefore the committee recommended that "abortion should be made legal, safe and accessible to all".

The governments of member states and the accession countries were asked not to prosecute women who have undergone illegal abortions. This resolution was followed by justifiably strong reactions in Malta.

In our article last month on abortion statistics, which revealed that Maltese women have an average of 52 abortions per year in the UK alone, we questioned "whether prejudice and judgmental attitudes in our society are still conditioning our decisions and behaviour.

"Lack of awareness and trust of local agencies that can offer support in cases of unwanted pregnancies can also be part of the problem."

The National Council of Women has always upheld the right to life as sacred and fundamental. The Council believes that solutions lie in a holistic approach of well-planned and effective education programmes in matters concerning sex, health and values, which should target different age groups. It is not condemnation that should guide our actions but conviction!