Abortion is murder, Church insists

The Maltese Catholic Church yesterday raised its voice over the visit by Dutch abortion doctor Rebecca Gomperts.

Archbishop Paul Cremona and Gozo Bishop Mario Grech issued a joint statement highlighting the Church's teachings to respect life from the first moment of conception.

"Abortion is not a choice or a right. Abortion is murder. Abortion is the denial of the right to life and the destruction of humans and civil society," the bishops said.

They appealed to Maltese and Gozitans to cherish the gift of life and encouraged doctors and those in the medical profession to seek the mission of healing, not death.

The Conference of Maltese Religious Major Superiors, gathered for their annual formation seminar, also issued a statement on Dr Gomperts' visit.

They said she deserved respect as a person and as a woman. However, they failed to see why this same respect was not being extended to human life, at whatever stage of development. "May we wish Dr Gomperts a good visit to our island, hoping she departs with a new desire to make some good choices on how to use the gift of life she has received," the KSMR said.

The University Students' Catholic Movement (MKSU) condemned the way that women's rights were being used as an excuse to try and promote abortion legalisation in Malta.

They urged the Maltese to support anti-abortion campaigns, while stressing the value of entrenching an anti-abortion clause in the Constitution.

"Life is a gift to us all and no one should be given the power to decide to end the life of another," it said.

The Commissioner for Children, Carmen Zammit, together with the Council for Children, expressed concern about the organisation of a press conference intended to stimulate public debate on the legalisation of abortion in Malta.

They encouraged the Maltese to cooperate in the fight to protect the right of the child to life and development, both before and after birth.