Archbishop Paul Cremona has warned that abortion and euthanasia have filtered in gradually into every country where they were eventually introduced.

In a message to mark the Day of Life, which is celebrated today, he said: "The change always begins with the introduction of exceptions, many times due to the mother's health or due to a condition affecting the child."

He said these exceptions would, in fact, be but the first step in shifting the value of life - instead of life in the womb having an intrinsic value in itself, the unborn child's life depends on other people's decisions.

"This means that the value of life starts to be measured according to people's considerations," he said.

"These considerations are then continuously widened - from abortion only in very particular situations to abortion 'on demand' in many countries, and from abortion only in the first few weeks of pregnancy to the possibility of abortion precisely when it is being born, known as 'partial birth abortion'," he said.

The Archbishop said Malta should be proud it protected life at all stages from conception to natural death.

He said whoever was in favour of taking this first step must be sincere with himself and say he was also going to give consent to taking other steps afterwards. "This is what has happened everywhere else; we cannot think it would be any different in Malta."

He asked what is of greatest value: the value of life of an unborn child, of a sick or an old person on one hand, or the fear of not being in conformity with Europe and the rest of the world where abortion and euthanasia is concerned.

He praised mothers who courageously chose to protect their unborn child even if they knew they would face problems after the birth. He also thanked fathers who assumed the responsibility of their actions to look after their child and to provide the support needed by the mother.