Updated 1.10pm with bishops' statement

The Maltese bishops have expressed concern after a judicial protest was filed to legalise the morning-after pill.

While insisting they strongly believed in the role and dignity of women, the bishops expressed support towards those organisations that insisted that human dignity should be protected from conception.

Archbishop Charles Scicluna and Gozo bishop Mario Grech were reacting after the Women’s Rights Foundation – backed up by 102 women aged between 16 and 62 –filed a judicial protest against the State demanding that the licensing, importation and distribution of ‘emergency contraception’ be made legal.

The legalisation of this pill, which is abortive in many cases, should not be tied to the argument of women's rights or with reproductive health- Bishops

But in a statement this afternoon, the bishops stressed they supported the rights of voiceless children before they are born.

"We therefore affirm that the legalisation of this pill, which is abortive in many cases, should not be tied to the argument of women's rights or with reproductive health.

"The issue remains one concerning the moral fibre of society, without which we will not only be erasing all that we've achieved but we will have nothing to relay to those who come after us," they said.

'Seek scientific information not hearsay'

Earlier, the Malta Humanist Association declared its support to the Women's Rights Foundation on their initiative to request the availability of the emergency contraceptive pill in Malta.

"The MHA notes that there have been several misinformed claims on the issue, even by people in high authority, and would therefore encourage the public to seek valid scientific information individually rather than accept hearsay and sentiment-laden statements," it said in a statement.

Emergency contraceptives prevent an egg from being released from the ovaries, and thus prevent fertilisation. They are not abortive measures and cannot interfere with an embryo once fertilisation has taken place, the MHA said.

There can never be gender equality when women are prevented from taking control of their own reproduction.

The facts about the morning-after pill

Ethical arguments overshadow the facts in the debate about the morning-after pill, and many are not aware of how it actually works.

Medical professionals who spoke to Times of Malta yesterday said the emergency contraception, taken by women to prevent a pregnancy, works in two ways.

“The main way in which the pill works is by stopping the ovary from releasing an egg. This way, the sperm and egg cannot meet, fertilisation does not take place and the woman does not get pregnant,” a GP said.

The pill, she said, could be taken up to three days after sexual intercourse but “works best in the first 24 hours”.

The pill could be taken up to three days after sexual intercourse but works best in the first 24 hours

The foundation said it was filing the protest on behalf of women who were not ready to start a family, rape victims, those already with children but who did not want more, women who were financially unstable and those who had made use of contraceptives that did not work.

Malta is the only EU country that does not offer access to the morning-after pill.

The foundation is pushing for the licensing of two types of the contraceptive: levonorgestrel-only (LNG) pills and pills containing ulipristal acetate (UPA).

While different countries use different brand names, the GP pointed out that these all contained hormones that were naturally produced by the female body but “only in large amounts”.

On the secondary effects of the morning- after pill, the GP said that some of the pills would also cause the inner lining of the womb to “dry out”.

“This means that, if the egg has already been fertilised, it cannot become attached to the womb and cannot start to grow,” the doctor said.

She pointed out that as many as half of fertilised eggs would not implant in the womb and “the woman will menstruate and will never know that the egg was fertilised”.

Critics of the foundation’s move have said that such a contraceptive would pave the way for abortion.

Debate on whether the morning-after pill is abortive varies, hinging on the argument about whether pregnancy begins at the fertilisation stage or at a later stage in the reproductive cycle.

 

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