I decided to write this contribution following the institution of a pro-choice movement to stir debate about the possibility of introducing abortion legislation in our country for selected instances such as safeguarding the health of the mother.
I take the plunge to reiterate what I stand for amid a time of mourning in the Grixti family.
The circumstances that brought my dear cousin Charles into this world, the whirl of family love that rippled from that particular instance and what that solidifying demonstration of love transmitted, not only to Charles but to all of us, is a living case study which proves all arguments in favour of abortion as being totally wrong.
So this is not an obituary but rather an account of events which bear witness to the gift of life that many Maltese citizens enjoyed from Charles as a leading orthopaedic surgeon for so many years.
It is also a synopsis of events during which the Grixti family, originating from Old College Street in Sliema, deeply nurtured in its Catholic faith, accepted death time and again when it came to visit. They did so because they were at all times more than convinced that only God knows better!
A year into his marriage, my dear uncle Philip, happily married to Inez, née Cauchi, prepared to become a proud father to his first child. However, he was about to face an extraordinarily tough decision.
For some medical reason or other, complications arose during the birth and Philip had to make a choice between his wife and the new life in her womb.
Our Catholic faith provides that, in such a circumstances, the new life should be given the opportunity to live. Indeed, that was the decision taken by Uncle Philip, without giving a thought to how or where this child would be raised.
So suddenly my uncle was a widower and his newborn son, Charles, was to be raised without ever managing to bond with his biological mother, without ever uttering the word ‘mummy’ and getting a reply.
The possibility to live transformed cousin Charles into the medical wonder he managed to become
Eventually, Uncle Philip decided to move back to Old College Street to live with his parents, brothers and sisters. It was a life-changing situation not only for my uncle but also for his four sisters, Mary, Agatha, Helen and Rose, who freely decided to remain spinsters with a threefold mission: to take care of the grandparents, of Uncle Philip and the other boys, including my dear dad – 18 at the time – and, obviously, of cousin Charles.
The extended family in Old College Street banded together to help out in those difficult circumsances. All four aunties came to love Charles collectively as the mummy he never knew and they loved him as the child they never had.
Cousin Charles grew up to become a general practitioner, feeling helpless when he couldn’t do anything to prevent his dad from dying suddenly at the age of 56.
Resting on the notion of cherishing the gift of life and accepting death, Charles flew to the UK to start his eight-year-long training to become a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons.
Supported by his loving wife, Marvic, and my aunties, he became a renowned and much sought after orthopaedic surgeon within the Maltese archipelago. Many of those who attended his funeral service had phoned in disbelief or engaged on social media to express their sympathy.
This real-life case study provides substantial evidence that any attempt to interfere with the process of procreation is totally incorrect. My uncle could have taken the very selfish route of saving his wife but, clinging on to his Catholic faith, he took the right decision.
That decision gave my cousin Charles the possibility to live, and because God knows better, that possibility to live transformed him into the medical wonder he managed to become.
On a political level, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has made it very clear where he stands in reacting to a European Commission report which refers to Malta’s lack of abortion legislation: “Noted, but no thank you”.
If ever called on to vote in a referendum on the subject I would fully support the gift of life because I learned to cherish life and I know that in His abundant providence, God knows better.