Gift of Life has repeatedly called for both sides of the house to initiate a debate which would lead to a clarification that the right to life, as protected in the Constitution, begins from the moment of conception.

At the end of November 2010, Gift of life wrote to the Prime Minister as well as to the Leader of the Opposition renewing the call for a parliamentary discussion to be held on the constitutional right to life from conception.

Article 33 of the Constitution of Malta currently does not specifically define when the right to life commences, the organization said. It said that in its current format, this remains precariously subject to interpretation. It also contains references to capital punishment which should also be removed.

The Prime Minister has indicated to Gift of life that the government is in favour of such an amendment and that they are willing to work with the Opposition to amend the article while the PL has publicly repeated that they are against abortion on several occasions. This has always been very welcome, GOL said.

The movement has been lobbying this amendment since 2004. 40,000 petitioners had signed the first right to life petition. This was presented to MPs from both sides of the house in December 2007. The petition also contained of the signatures of over two–thirds of the MPs from the previous legislature.

The movement will be stepping up the +9 right to life campaign in the coming months with a series of planned events.