Bishops' no to abortion

It is more than right and fitting that our bishops - the Archbishop, Mgr Joseph Mercieca, the Bishop of Gozo, Mgr Nicholas Cauchi, and Auxiliary Bishop Annetto Depasquale - take exception to a United Nations committee's attempt to interfere in our internal affairs.

In a statement released on Wednesday our Bishops, as expected, reacted negatively to a recommendation by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which last month urged Malta to consider exceptions to the general prohibition on abortion. The UN committee called on Malta to consider abortion in therapeutic cases and in those instances where the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.

The bishops clearly said: "We very much regret the UN committee's decision to make such unfortunate pressure on our country... We also encourage all the representatives of our people to continue not only to reject abortion without any reservations, but also never to stop pronouncing themselves in defence of life and against the killing, through abortion, of persons totally unable to defend themselves."

The bishops were right to describe the UN committee's pressure on the Maltese government to legalise abortion in certain circumstances as objectionable and unacceptable.

The bishops added: "As stated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the right to life of every innocent human individual is a constitutive element of a civil society and its legislation. The inalienable rights of the person must be recognised and respected by civil society and the political authority... The moment a positive law deprives a category of human beings of the protection which civil legislation ought to accord them, the state is denying the equality of all before the law."

This is not the first time that this particular committee of the UN put this kind of pressure on different states. It does not come as a surprise to A Christian Outlook. During the debate about Malta's accession to the European Union we had noted that the culprit on abortion was not the EU, but the UN.

We had written that in one of the most explicit demands for abortion legalisation ever issued by a UN committee, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) issued its Concluding Observations of the committee on Nepal.

The UN report states: "The Committee urges the state party to take remedial action to address the problems of clandestine abortions, unwanted pregnancies, and the high rate of maternal mortality. In this regard, the committee urges the state party to reinforce reproductive and sexual health programmes, in particular in rural areas, and to allow abortion when pregnancies are life threatening or a result of rape or incest."

The United Nations was criticised for overstepping its bounds in this case even by its own definition.

Recently the same committee also put pressure on Poland.

We are certain that the committee's pressure will be rebuffed by the Maltese people and authorities.