The laws in favour of abortion were passed in the UK in 1967 and my late husband Lino, a former consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, could not apply for any consultant post in the UK unless he was ready to do abortion lists.

How can a doctor who upholds the Hippocratic Oath to protect life, be ready to ‘kill’ so many innocent babies while they are supposedly protected in the mother’s womb?

So we came back to Malta in 1968 at great financial sacrifice. The minister for health never appointed him consultant and he worked long hours as registrar at St Luke’s for a pittance… and he was not left much time to do some private work. The pay was very low, yet Lino never gave up helping any mother not to resort to aborting her baby.

The date to celebrate life was set for the first Sunday in February.

This year, because it coincided with carnival, it was organised on Sunday 14th – Valentine’s Day – a day when love reigns…how appropriate! Pity not so many attended. Seeing all three parties - Labour, Nationalist and Alternattiva -were represented on February 14, it was decided that Malta should set an example to all the world that the womb should be shown respect as it has the very important function of bringing a person to fruition. Let’s call it Womb Ecology, suggested Tony Mifsud, who has been a steady pro-lifer since 1999.

All expressed concern about the government’s delay in deciding the issue of embryo freezing after an IVF intervention… because the subsequent destruction of embryos is akin to abortion. All agreed that freezing of eggs and sperm is safe and produces the same results to mothers who want to have a family.

May Sunday, February 14, 2016, create more awareness to protect life at all costs and may this letter serve to expedite the government’s final decision.