I am sure few would have been surprised by the formation of a pro-abortion group in Malta. Its spokesman promulgates the customary reasons for legislating in favour of allowing abortion in limited circumstances, but then throws in enough emotive words such as ‘choice’, ‘rape’ and ‘physical health’ to expose quite clearly what they really want, which is abortion on demand.

At least they use the word ‘abortion’ as opposed to the euphemisms used in other countries, such as a ‘termination of pregnancy’. However, their argument falls at the first hurdle – the fact that there are two human beings involved in a pregnancy, not one. No pregnant woman ever refers to the individual she is carrying as anything other than a baby.

The law has to protect the baby, as the word ‘choice’ for the mother suggests one-sided legal rights. Legislating in favour of abortion as a solution to a pregnancy conceived by rape is simply a bad law. It compounds an evil act by destroying innocent human life. The punishment of the perpetrator and adequate support for the victim and her baby has to be the better option.

It is often said in British legal circles that legislating for exceptions almost invariably produces very poor legislation. For example, the British government legislated in favour of abortion in 1967 following the ghastly crime of a gang rape of a 14-year-old, and ostensibly to protect around 10,000 women a year from back-street abortionists.

There were (and still are, at least according to the letter of the law) stringent criteria for allowing legal abortions in UK.

The reality today is the wholesale and flagrant abuse of the law, with 200,000 abortions annually, over 99 per cent of which are for ‘social’ as opposed to medical reasons. The new pro-abortion lobby’s pleas, if accepted in law, will inevitably result in abortion on demand.

I suspect none of the pro-abortionists in Malta have actually watched the procedure being carried out. Well, they should. I am perfectly confident that many of those who find the courage to do so might be shocked by the sight of recognisably human body parts being disposed of following the procedure.