David Schembri
Care order proposal for unborn children
'Great majority of the Maltese oppose abortion'
The government would be able to issue care orders for children yet to be born under a proposal by Parliament's Social Affairs Committee.
Speaking at a pro-life manifestation at the St John's Co-Cathedral Oratory yesterday, Social Affairs Committee chairman Edwin Vassallo said the government was intent on safeguarding human life starting from conception.
"We must introduce legislation to protect unborn children, not just from abortion but even from behaviour such as drug abuse," Mr Vassallo said.
In cases where this sort of behaviour was detected, the proposed law would enable authorities to take better care of unborn children by providing treatment to mothers.
In extreme cases they would even issue a care order over the unborn child as happened nowadays with infants, children and teenagers at risk, he said.
This would not require the right to life of the unborn child to be entrenched into the Constitution, as the current one would allow for such a law to be enacted.
Maria Vella, a doctor working with pregnant women with a drug addiction, hailed this as a step in the right direction.
Contacted by The Times, Dr Vella said: "Currently, there are no laws which make treatment compulsory for pregnant women who are dependent on drugs.
"In this way, we will be taking care of mothers and their children, while giving a voice to the unborn child."
It has been shown that babies born to mothers addicted to drugs such as cocaine, heroin and amphetamines are themselves born addicted to the drug, having received it through the placenta.
Speaking with Caravaggio's Beheading of St John in the backdrop, Deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg reiterated his stance that Malta should join Ireland in entrenching the unborn child's right to life in its Constitution, and that this should be something members of both parties should work for.
Dr Borg said that while the great majority of the Maltese opposed abortion, more needed to be done to help pregnant women and their children, including strengthening the family unit which he understood primarily as monogam-ous, heterosexual marriages, without excluding other forms of family.
"When protecting life at conception, it's not just abortion that is an issue but you should be able to ensure care for the unborn child," Dr Borg said. Speaking on behalf of the Labour Party, Tony Agius Decelis said the party was fully in favour of protecting the miracle of life and it was totally against abortion under any circumstance.
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yaz tabone
Feb 11th 2010, 09:40
Gerry Cowie - so u mean to say that MEN understand what pregnancy is?? it is NOT just 9 months of careful eating and no alcohol. so NO men DON'T understand how a pregnant woman feels.
a fetus is a human being?? honestly? fine that's your opinion. i'm alive cos my parents chose life - well if i was aborted i wouldn't know the difference..
P muscat - i cant agree with you more. us women are being treated as 'incubators', just a link to reproduction. we are not being treated as human beings, our rights are disappearing and i will NOT accept that.
as i said.. if someday i want an abortion.. i WILL get an abortion.. n i don't care what peppu or peppi think - its MY body!
P Muscat
Feb 10th 2010, 08:44
This "care order" proposal will reduce women to mere reproducing bodies. It is nothing short of slavery. Care should be provided to all people who are on drugs, be they pregnant or not.
Why all this fuss about abortion? Is this a ploy by the [locally] almighty priests to deviate attention from the more pressing issue of divorce? Are the priests feeling they are losing power on this backward society?
Life does not start at conception. That idea is abdurd and shows how ignorant most people are on biology and life. Life started much earlier than that! A fertilised egg is not a child: it is just a cell. A hundred cells later it is still not a human being, even though it has the full genetic information. Nearly all cells of the adult body have the same genetic information but that does not make them a human being, let alone a person.
There are however whole and complete persons in this issue who are being ignored and those are the women, who incidentally happen to be half of society. But what does an organisation made up of single and [outwardly] celibate men in black care about women?
Gerry Cowie
Feb 9th 2010, 19:30
@Yaz Tabone - Who says men have nothing to do with a pregnancy? The fact that so many men have commented shows that they have an opinion as much as anybody else.
No matter what stage the foetus has reached it is still a human being with potential - not a potential human being. Life is cheapened to a commodity by those who feel a child has no value until it is outside of the womb, safe from abortionists. The value of human life is not just a religious issue. You are alive because your parents chose life - don't forget that!
@Adrian Aquilina - rights come with responsiblities. You also are alive as your parents chose life for you.
@W Flynn of Australia - your sarcasm is evidence of a lack of anything constructive to say here! You also are alive because your parents chose life for you.
I think the minister has been taken out of context - and the ones shouting loudest are the pro abortionists.
Animals get treated better in our society than human beings. I'll bet people would shout louder to protect animals. Ghandi was so right!
Dominic Fenech
Feb 9th 2010, 09:49
Remarkable.
yaz tabone
Feb 9th 2010, 09:04
wow so many guys commenting - im sure they wer never faced with the whole "unwanted fetus" - yes fetus, not child. its a FACT that it is a fetus. religion dsnt mean anything to me so i dnt need to hear the whole 'soul at conception' rubbish - i go by proof.
im embarrassed to be in a country wer woman are treated like dogs. so the order is - man, fetus, family pet and then women. we are seen as incubators, we are NOT incubators. this is OUR body.
.. but dnt wry.. just because it isnt legal here.. it does NOT mean maltese women dnt have abortions.
its causing women here to get abortions much later in their pregnancy, when the baby is almost formed. they, not only, have to save up for the actual abortion - but also for the transport n accomodation
Tim Ripard
Feb 9th 2010, 08:30
Joseph Aquilina, I dislike smoking intensely and I'm highly aware it is harmful to foeti. That is not the point. The point is that whilst we can encourage people to lead healthy lives we can't make it illegal not to. If you take regular exercise, for example, you will be healthier and live longer. Society will benefit by having lower health costs to cover. Should we require all citizens to attend compulsory daily calisthenics? Mr Vassallo used the words 'we must protect...from (unhealthy = understood) BEHAVIOUR' . If we start controlling behaviour we'll end up like the Third Reich.
Dr. Anthony Vella
Feb 8th 2010, 22:43
I have a suggestion to make to the government...........as part of the new law legalising the kidnapping of fetuses there should be a clause which compels women to apply and pay for a license that entitles them to become pregnant. The money collected will go some way to reduce the budget deficit.
Richard Galea
Feb 8th 2010, 21:00
What next?...... Chastity Belts??
May I suggest to Tonio Borg to castrate the unknown fathers of the unwanted children too!!!!!
It would be sex discrimination to persecute only the mothers and not also the fathers in attempted abortions.......
Richard Galea.
Corinne Vella
Feb 8th 2010, 18:26
Joseph Aquilina: It is possible to recognise that smoking is harmful and yet see the inherent danger of taking criminal action against a pregnant woman who smokes. That is as absurd as prosecuting someone for breathing on the grounds that the air is polluted.
Joe Cassar
Feb 8th 2010, 15:18
@ Mr Tim Ripard
You said that "Women who have miscarriages will have the additional trauma of being investigated by the police to see if they've broken the law by 'behaving inappropriately' whilst being pregnant."
This already happens. When my wife suffered a miscarriage some years ago, a doctor at St Luke's subjected her (while still under shock) to a third-degree grilling worthy of any Gestapo thug.
He also tried to grill me separately - probably to see if our "stories" matched.
Kenneth Cassar
Feb 8th 2010, 15:10
I can already envision long queues of women waiting to take a pregnancy test before buying alcohol and tobacco.
Jesmond Micallef
Feb 8th 2010, 14:47
Abortion - To Abort life !! The name actually speaks for itself !! I am against it. I can only consider abortion only at extreme cases which demand an intervention should the life of the mother be at a very very serious risk. I have no idea whatsoever if this may truely be the case but it is the only exception I am willing to "negotiate" here, nothing else.
My case:
Should humans give way to this, wether its an "unwanted child" , a "handicaped child" or other reasons that may seem "reasonably valid", I ask : Ok then, why not have children genetically engineered as one wishes ? This may pave the way for children which are "ordered" via the "counter". Options like Skin complexion, eye colour, blonde or not......etc etc.....may all be items one can tick off the list !! What does come to mind here ? Maybe somekind of "Supremacy" , based upon what ? Maybe financial means ? Will these children be "patented company property" ?
Abortion is not an option. It paves the way for other "concepts and/or misconcepts" we humans devise in order to sustain our hunger for "control and power" !!
J Oatmon
Feb 8th 2010, 14:38
Are we getting a 'nanny state' here in Malta like the UK - where the people are deemed unfit to run their own lives, and the state must take charge, yet criminals get suspended sentences because 'they can run their own lives' and the state washes it's hands of the responsibilities?
Joseph Aquilina
Feb 8th 2010, 14:19
@Tim Ripard
Are you saying you are in favour of people smoking next to infants? Because if you are not then I cannot understand how you can agree that a woman smokes when pregnant. You can read the following in case you do not know how smoke harms babies;
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/10/t105800.asp
martin portelli
Feb 8th 2010, 14:02
" ......strengthening the family unit which he understood primarily as monogamous, heterosexual marriages, without excluding other forms of family"
How does the Right Honourable Minister propose to include other forms of family if he understands the family unit to be exclusively monogomous, heterosexual and 'married'? Cognitive dissonance par excellence! He should refrain from insulting the electorate's intelligence and stop using the hackneyed term inclusion. Inclusion and exclusion aren't synonymous and doublespeak is odious.
"We must introduce legislation to protect unborn children, not just from abortion but even from behaviour such as drug abuse," Mr Vassallo said
Furthermore does he plan to issue care orders and introduce legislation for the unborn in the inner Harbour and Delimara areas should their mothers be observed surviving on black dust, comprised and polluted air?
Tim Ripard
Feb 8th 2010, 13:59
This is the thin end of the wedge. A bit further down the line smoking during pregnancy will become a crime, then watching horror films whilst pregnant. In a few years women will have no control over their bodies and the contraceptive pill will be banned. Women who have miscarriages will have the additional trauma of being investigated by the police to see if they've broken the law by 'behaving inappropriately' whilst being pregnant.
Joseph Aquilina
Feb 8th 2010, 13:55
@Maria Camilleri
I believe you are the one putting things out of proportion. Just because the law is there it does not mean the government will start monitoring every pregnant woman 24/7 just in case one of them does something wrong! However with such a law the government will have another legal tool to help protect better the rights of the unborn child.
As for freedom of choice so much shouted on these forums; everyone has freedom of choice (yes even in this country) as long as that freedom does not danger the rights of other - now isn't the birth NATURAL RIGHT of the unborn-child? Additionally, it is not as if an unborn child does not feel anything. There are documentaries that prove the contrary but still people prefer to look the other side, as long as they get rid of the "problem".
Fact is that some people should start thinking about their freedom of choice before doing it and not after. Mind you, there is nothing wrong in doing it, however two people should do it baring the responsibility of what can come out of it, rather then ALWAYS choosing the easy way out.
Dominic Chircop
Feb 8th 2010, 13:50
Joking apart, at what point in time will such care orders come into play ?
When a woman misses her period ? Immediately after sexual intercourse ? Or what ?
Illuminana ftit, Edwin !
And why not go the whole hog and castrate anyone who shows a propensity towards abortion?
No wonder the present administration is getting more cut off from its grassroots. They have become experts in theophysics. They are turning Malta into a theocracy !
V. Grech
Feb 8th 2010, 13:49
Who exactly will be administering the care order? who will be ultimately responsible for those children? it's one thing placing children under a care order, but what services are available to actually afftect such a care order?
Victor Laiviera
Feb 8th 2010, 13:36
Of course, it is not just drugs which can harm the unborn child – so the law cannot stop there.
Smoking is also damaging, so any women buying cigarettes will have to produce a certificate that she is not pregnant. And any woman seen smoking may be asked to show her midriff, just in case there is a "bump”.
The same goes for alcohol – the barman will have to ask any woman ordering a drink to produce proof of non-pregnancy.
And what about overeating? Will any woman ordering a whopper with extra fries be expected to furnish a urine sample which will be swiftly tested in the kitchen?
Lack of exercise is also a big no-no, so the police pregnancy patrol will have to check whether the woman has taken her daily walk. In fact, it may be more practical to organise group walks, with a traffic policeman (flashing lights and all) in front and a couple of drill-sergeants bringing up the rear going “left, right, left right, left right....)
Steve Borg
Feb 8th 2010, 13:27
Is it my impression or have the ultra conservatives really taken the reins in this country? The state's fundamentalism on abortion and divorce makes the Vatican look progressive.
C.Sammut
Feb 8th 2010, 13:13
I would ask all those pro abortion to check this resource out and ask themselves again if there is really nothing else we can do except kill. http://abort73.com/video/AbortionMedQT.html
Maria Camilleri
Feb 8th 2010, 13:13
@Joseph Aquilina:
Issuing care orders over another person's body? Are we going mad?
One word springs to mind and that is "proportionality" - the principle that government action ought to be proportional to the ends achieved. This is way over any reasonable proportional action to protect a foetus.
Ramon Casha
Feb 8th 2010, 13:05
@adrian aquilina
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcasm
adrian aquilina
Feb 8th 2010, 12:38
paul barret you must be making a joke!!!! if not its the most stupid comment i have read in days here.. lets just get rid of human rights,the right to choose,the right to live your own life,the right to control your own life,the right not to have the state watching over you for everything etc..
the government and the religious have no right to control peoples lives..malta is sinking and these religious fanatics are taking it down
Eric Gahn
Feb 8th 2010, 12:35
Very much reminds me of Attwood's 'A Handmaid's Tale'.
Ramon Casha
Feb 8th 2010, 12:34
All that remains is to take away women's rights to decide whether they wish to become pregnant or not, and this government will have succeeded into officially turning women into baby factories.
adrian aquilina
Feb 8th 2010, 12:33
this government and country are becoming extrem beyond belief...amost facist in its shutting out of anyone who has a differant view.....while more important issues are not dealt with...
Andy Towler
Feb 8th 2010, 12:23
Is it April 1st?
Madness.
Joseph Aquilina
Feb 8th 2010, 12:22
@Maria Camilleri
Does freedom to choose also give you freedom to decide for others? Why is it ok for the government to intervene if a mother tries to harm an already born baby but not when a mother is harming the unborn child? Do you believe that the unborn child does not have any feelings or cannot feel any pain??
Anthony Falzon
Feb 8th 2010, 12:17
Kullhadd jigri wara il voti, ahjar lewwel tiprotegu il hajja ta min diga huwa haj u iddahlu il piena tal mowt ghal min joqtol u pieni aktar horox ghal attentati ta qtil min naha tal qrati u mhux mohna fi 'suspended sentence' biex nidru moderni.
Corinne Vella
Feb 8th 2010, 12:12
And how does the Honourable Minister plan to prevent abuse of the proposed law?
Steve Bonello
Feb 8th 2010, 12:09
A spine-chilling proposal.
Julian Maddalo
Feb 8th 2010, 12:02
Stop complaining, since this would allow pregnant women to require strong governmental action against so many public nuisances including noise pollution and fumes (including from buses)!
...and we will all truly benefit from the gift of life!
Mark-Anthony Fenech
Feb 8th 2010, 11:58
@ Paul Barrett: I like your sense of humour hehe...
Dominic Chircop
Feb 8th 2010, 11:48
As is very well known, the Deputy Leader should be commended on his stance to protect the life of the unborn.
It is a pity that he does not show the same fervour when it comes to the rights of those already born, such as the elderly who are often deprived of their free medication as none is available.
Surely, as a senior Cabinet figure, he should be consistent in everything and care for everyone, and not just to Opus Dei.
William P Flynn
Feb 8th 2010, 11:41
Yes, Tonio, and have abortion police check every woman leaving the country to see if she’s pregnant. And if she is she'd better be pregnant when the abortion police check her again upon her return. If she isn't she must go to abortion prison until she becomes pregnant again.
Maria Camilleri
Feb 8th 2010, 11:34
Doesn't anyone think that this type of legislation could be dangerous and impinge on the woman's right to her own body and her freedom to choose?
Will we end up having Womb Police going around bars and restuarants checking up on pregnant women? Will pregnant women have to prove that the father of their yet unborn child allows them to travel?
This is ridiculous and has nothing to do with the rights of the unborn child. Has Hon. Dr. Borg forgotten the texts of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the EU Charter on Fundamental Freedoms, granting women the right to freedom and the right to respect for her physical and mental integrity?
Paul Barrett
Feb 8th 2010, 11:21
And whilst they are at it, they should make it compulsory for all women to take a pregnancy test before leaving Malta by air or sea and denied passage if found to be pregnant. No half measures in case anyone escapes the net.
What about including a supervision order on any woman found or suspected of being pregnant.
C.Sammut
Feb 8th 2010, 10:51
In my opinion more studying of the reasons why women in Malta choose to abort is needed. Help has to be tailored in this direction if we want to avoid it. Examples include more support for families with severe physically and mentally challenged children from birth.