A reference to “safe abortion” in a pan-European health policy document has goaded Malta’s main political parties into a war of words.

Last week, 53 countries forming part of the World Health Organisation’s European region, including Malta, agreed to a WHO policy document entitled Health 2020.

In a section discussing infant and maternal mortality, the document notes that “access to sexuality education, family planning services and safe abortion reduces the number of unintended pregnancies”.

The line was pounced on by Labour Party newspaper KullĦadd, which noted Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi had backed the WHO policy.

Within hours, the Health Ministry shot back with a statement lambasting the “deceitful” news report.

“No part of the WHO document requires any country to use or introduce abortion,” a ministry spokesperson insisted, adding the reference “only applies to countries that already offer abortion”.

The Government’s unconditional anti-abortion stance had remained unchanged, the spokesperson said.

A PL spokesperson declined to discuss the KullĦadd article, saying the newspaper had made a journalistic observation.

He, nonetheless, hinted at the tit-for-tat political game played by parties, suggesting The Times should “revisit the media campaign waged by Lawrence Gonzi and his army of moralists in the 2009 MEP election... when they accused Labour of being in favour of abortion”.

This happened despite Labour MEPs having voted “against clauses that are much milder than the clause that the Prime Minister endorsed at the WHO conference,” the spokesperson noted.

Abortion alarmism is a potent card for political parties, with politicians knowing any association with the dreaded “A” word could tarnish their reputation.

And despite Malta’s EU Accession Treaty including a specific anti-abortion annexe, Maltese politicians’ voting patterns are regularly scrutinised for any hint of pro-abortion sentiment.

One example dates back to June 2010, when PL MEPs Edward Scicluna and John Attard Montalto voted in favour of a British report calling for greater urgency in achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

This support of the report – which included a passing reference to “safe abortion” similar to that in last week’s WHO document – was reported as “a vote in favour of abortion” by the PN media.