Tony Mifsud, in an article entitled ‘Environmental Justice’ (September 23) referring to my inaugural speech as Alternattiva Demokratika chairman on September 16, asked whether I was suggesting the inclusion of abortion on demand in our free health services.

Mifsud seems to have a very fertile imagination as nowhere is that conclusion suggested or even remotely implied.

In my speech as chairman I applauded the Youth Parliament which earlier in the week had insisted on the urgent need for a public debate on abortion and other issues related to reproductive health. I emphasised then, and reiterate, that an informed debate on abortion is essential. It needs to be fuelled by research.

At AD we discuss such issues periodically. In one such discussion we were informed that some educators have observed that the number of children with Down’s syndrome attending educational facilities has noticeably declined over the past years.

I am informed that it is not clear whether this decline in numbers is real or perceived. Nor is it clear whether this observation is the direct result of a diminishing birth rate or else whether it has another explanation.

In an ethically pluralistic country a public discussion must be encouraged and not stifled

I am informed that in particular it has been noted that during the last few years, private clinics have been offering pregnant women two specific tests of relevance to the issue under consideration. The first, called nuchal scan, is also referred to as a nuchal translucency test. The second test available since 2013 is referred to as chorionic villus sampling. I am informed that both these tests can indicate whether the foetus being examined has developed Down’s syndrome.

These tests are not provided by the national health service and so no information is publicly available as to how many such tests were carried out over the years as well as in how many cases the possibility of developing Down’s syndrome was identified. It is not known as to what follow-up action was taken by the expectant mothers in each of the cases subject to the above-referred tests.

This is one of the matters which needs to be researched and analysed in depth in order that a debate on abortion is carried out.

After emphasising that AD has taken a pro-life stand in the past, Mifsud asks whether something has radically changed in AD about the beginning of human life. He even refers to when my predecessor Arnold Cassola had accompanied an ADZ young woman making submissions in favour of the introduction of the morning-after pill during a Parliamentary Committee session.

The answer is yes, there is a radical change. I am in favour of externalising the debate. It is necessary that the debate currently ongoing behind closed doors comes out into the open. AD has taken a pro-life stance in the past and I am not proposing to change that.

But in an ethically pluralistic country a public discussion must be encouraged and not stifled. It is necessary that a highly emotionally charged debate, which at times turns hysterical, is transformed into a mature debate fed by research.

Hysterical reactions will not change the fact that abortion has been present in the Maltese islands for some time. A mature debate could lead to a better understanding of what is really going on. It is about time.

Carmel Cacopardo, an architect and civil engineer, is chairman of Alternattiva Demokratika – the Green Party.