It is amazing how a woman of Clare Vassallo’s calibre comments (July 1) about the rights of women over their bodies and about the lack of provision of the morning-after pill in Malta but says not a word about the right to life, and the quality of life, of unborn children in the womb.
She would have been perfectly right to talk on the rights of women to equal pay and equal treatment at places of work. But to talk only on the rights of women for the morning-after pill and disregard completely the right to life of unborn children is crass, negligent and callous.
She might not be aware that there are eight laws which make provision for the protection of unborn children in Malta. The Embryo Protection Law was passed by all members of Parliament in 2012. The Healthy Lifestyle Law, which was passed, again, by all members of Parliament in January this year, promotes and enhances human life “from conception”. These laws reflect the values and beliefs of Maltese society in general and not only those of women.
Vassallo should have left out of her protest the 50 years of discussion about the right of women over their bodies. This only shows that she tried to trivialise the issue. As an academic she should have argued on whether the morning-after pill is abortifacient or not. Human life begins at fertilisation. Pills that prevent implantation of a fertilised ovum are abortifacient.
That is the core argument of the National Council of Women. They don’t have to be ashamed for this. They were talking all along about the dignity of women, the dignity of motherhood and the dignity of human life from conception.
Vassallo seems to be a trendy woman. As is her right she could have resigned from the NCW quietly, without fanfare and name calling.
The drama she created must have set many people guessing why she made so much fuss in the press just because she decided to resign from the NCW. Is she after something? She already was the chairperson of the Public Broadcasting Authority.
National Council of Women was talking about the dignity of women, the dignity of motherhood and the dignity of human life from conception
Similarly, the government-appointed National Commission for the Promotion of Equality (NCPE) is in favour ofmaking the morning-after pill available in Malta. According to this commission:
“Lack of access to the morning-after pill raises an issue of discrimination since the unavailability of this pill penalises primarily women by denying them a pharmaceutical service that would allow them to exert more control over their life. Emergency contraception is important for women to prevent unwanted pregnancies.”
It seems equality of treatment for the unborn child is not its concern. The commission was not expressing itself about equality between women and men, as its name implies, but ostensibly about the feminist agenda.
It seems that to avoid discrimination against women and to promote the right to women to exert more control over their lives the NCPE justifies the killing of unborn children. It “discriminates” in favour of women having the right to prevent unwanted pregnancies. It “discriminates” against unborn children’s right to life and to thrive.
Civil Liberties Minister Helena Dalli said she agreed with the introduction of the morning-after pill as “a form of contraception”.
Speaking during a public consultation meeting, Dalli said the Cabinet had received a scientific briefing on the medication, which had informed all ministers that the morning-after pill was contraceptive as it prolonged ovulation and prevented fertilisation.
She did not say, also, that other scientific briefings on the medication say that human life begins at fertilisation and that the morning after pill prevents also implantation of a fertilised ovum and is therefore abortifacient.
This in spite of the fact that on December 2013, at the United Nations conference in Geneva, Dalli is reported to have made a very specific and important declaration that “The [Malta] government’s reiterated its belief in the need to protect the right to life, including that of the unborn child... and expressed the view that, as human life begins at conception, the termination of pregnancy through procedures of induced abortion at any stage of gestation, was an infringement of this right.”
Dalli is also reported saying that Malta “therefore could not recognise abortion or any other form of termination of pregnancy as a legitimate measure of family planning.”
Tony Mifsud is coordinator of the Malta Unborn Child Movement.