The Gift of Life foundation said today that it was very satisfied that Malta continued to speak out strongly against abortion at an international level.

The foundation said that Malta and Poland had broken ranks with the EU at the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) which convened its annual two-week meeting at the UN headquarters in New York and spoke out when the EU tried to shift the meeting's agenda to include the right to abortion.

Ambassador Saviour F. Borg, the head of Malta's mission to the UN said, "Malta would like to clarify its position with respect to the language relating to sexual and reproductive health and rights in the EU statement. Malta firmly continues to maintain that any position taken or recommendations made regarding women's empowerment and gender equality should not in any way create an obligation on any party to consider abortion as a legitimate form of reproductive health rights, services or commodities."

The foundation said the Maltese should be proud of our country's international stand against abortion.

"We should all recognize the courage that it takes for our government to go against the enormous international pressures including that of the EU, who always press for a common front on matters. Malta is a country that is held in high esteem on these matters and we have a very important role to play internationally on matters related to these key human values. We commend our government's moral strengtho and remain hopeful that this pro-life position will continue to remain strong with the Government of Malta."