A joint committee of the social affairs and the family affairs and health parliamentary committees met members of the public to discuss the issue of emergency contraception or the morning-after pill (MAP). The committee found the patience and the time to listen to various sections of the Maltese community and several experts who all quoted papers in support of their arguments. None presented any evidence based on their own research.

Hence, the whole exercise just proved to be a waste of time and the members of the public who attended were only there for the ride. It was a stage-managed affair to discuss a subject matter that had already been decided by a different authority, which did not fall under the jurisdiction of this parliamentary committee.

In fact, in its conclusion, the joint committee notes that the members forming part of the joint parliamentary committee do not have the function to process applications for medicinal products, neither can they approve or otherwise licences for medicinal products.

In conclusion, the joint committee states that the Medicines Authority, which has the sole responsibility to issue medicinal licences, should exercise such power if it results that the MAP is not abortive according to the law of Malta. But since the same joint committee has no power to force the Medicines Authority to exercise such an obligation and since the latter had already reached a decision, all meetings were rendered sterile.

This debate started because an undisclosed number of women filed a judicial protest. But the same joint committee and the Medicines Authority turned their back on the thousands that protested against the introduction of the MAP due to its abortive potential.

I do not intend to argue about the abortive potential or otherwise of the MAP; enough has been said and written. The simple stark realty remains that should the MAP alter the endometrial milieu and, therefore, prohibiting nidation, then we are actually introducing abortion by the backdoor.

Let us no longer behave like hypocrites. In these last years, we have thrown out of the window principles and values that united us in the past and were the mainstay of our strong family ties, which formed the backbone of Maltese society through the ages and were the envy of many countries.

Now we boast of being the best of European liberals while, at the same time, turning our backs on the huge and ever-mounting social problems our children are falling prey to. Just imagine what our society will be like in 20–30 years’ time. And all this in the name of personal liberty and rights but not in the name of obligations.

We have become a shattered society composed of individuals who do not relate to anyone or anything except their own perceived ‘needs’.

The joint parliamentary committee also advises that patients (these are not patients but people) who would like to avail themselves of everyday contraceptives have a right to take voluntary and informed decisions and to choose the treatment that best suits their health in the most comprehensive way. Nice words but where is the beef? Who is responsible for guiding ‘informed decisions’? The Medicines Authority, the parliamentary committee, the education or health departments?

The stark reality is that no one has assumed responsibility for educating and informing those interested as to what are the consequences of taking the MAP or who to hold responsible.

The medical profession called for MAP by prescription. The Medicines Authority ignored this advice and ordered that the MAP could be sold over the counter at the request of the public. No age limitation, no advice and, certainly, no information.

So who bears the responsibility: the dispensing chemist? If the MAP has abortive consequences, on whose desk will the buck stop?

A 41-year-old lady walks into the office. Her profession involves her travelling across the globe. At her age she becomes conscious that, one day, she might want children (our new toys?). So she hears that she can freeze eggs and that, one day, she can utilise them to try and bear children.

Tests reveal that her reserve eggs are depleted and she practically has no chance of conceiving. She was, at her age, ignorant of all this. During our discussion, it transpired that she is sexually active and that her work exposes her to sexual acts. “I do not mind because, abroad, the MAP is easily available,” she adds.
Problem solved. No consideration as to whether she is in her pre-fertilisation, peak fertilisation or post fertilisation period. How’s that for education, knowledge and responsibility?

Another well-groomed educated woman calls for the MAP. She was seven days away from her monthly period. All she needed was reassurance.
Who is in charge of educating these women?

It is a fact that, wherever the MAP was introduced, sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs) increased drastically. But does anybody care? And who are the lifelong victims of STDs – hopefully not our parliamentarians, or members of the Medicines Authority, doctors and chemists! Perhaps not but it is almost a certainty that they will be the poor, the uneducated and the uninformed.
Of course, there are more wide-ranging consequences to all this: more poverty, more infidelity, more marriage breakdowns and an ever-rising health bill. Again, I ask, does anybody care?

Does anybody realise how great a burden liberalism is putting on society’s shoulders, especially on those who are undereducated, misinformed and vulnerable?

We started with divorce. Unfortunately, MAP is not the end of the slippery slope. Abortion is well and truly on the way.

Josie Muscat is St James Hospital chairman.