Democratic Party leader Godfrey Farrugia insisted they were dead set against abortion but, at the same time, would not object to having pro-abortion candidates as long as they toed the party line.
Dr Farrugia was asked to clarify the party’s position in the wake of a paper published yesterday outlining the party’s beliefs. In the document, the PD declared itself as being pro-life, pro-choice (the slogan used by the abortion lobby) and anti-abortion.
In its position paper, the party said it was pro-life “in a wider context than is usually understood” saying it was advocating sexual education campaigns and calling for more support to those contemplating abortion in order to avoid going for such an option.
Declaring itself to be pro-choice too, the PD said: “Women should have a real choice against terminating an unwanted pregnancy because their child can be taken into proper care, or they can bank on active institutional support should they decide to keep a child from an unwanted pregnancy themselves.”
Moreover, the party said it believed in freedom of conscience and allowed its members and representatives to pursue their own beliefs and mores on such a sensitive subject.
Contacted by the Times of Malta, Dr Farrugia denied that the decision to use the term pro-choice was meant to be a vote catcher within the pro-abortion lobby.
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“One of the choices the government should be offering is the possibility to women having an unwanted pregnancy to still keep their baby but donate it to the State,” he said. Dr Farrugia, a family doctor by profession, noted he used to come across three to four unwanted pregnancies a month.
The party said it believed in freedom of conscience
“If a woman is resolute in not wanting the baby it is very hard to persuade her to change her mind. Giving birth at an earlier stage would make it easier to handle her trauma, even for the simple fact that her pregnancy would be less noticeable,” he added.
“I am as pro-life as I am pro-choice but the latter option is not just between the morning-after-pill or abortion. The right to life prevails over everything,” he insisted.
Dr Farrugia also took a swipe at the Prime Minister, saying the PD’s values and beliefs were based on principles and not to score political points.
“Joseph Muscat at times poses as the champion of certain minority groups and exploits sensitive issues, such as his U-turn on embryo freezing, to deflect attention away from other issues,” he commented.
The Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, yesterday denounced countries like Malta for not legalising abortion. Her remark was made in a message on the occasion of Women’s Day.
“A few states still maintain highly-restrictive legal frameworks which prevent or limit women’s access to safe and legal abortion care and criminalise assistance given to it,” she said.