Miriam Sciberras from the Life Network explains their stand against the morning-after pill, telling Claire Caruana that the first few days of human life cannot be disregarded.

Miriam Sciberras: “Everyone speaks up for women, but who is going to fight for the unborn?” Photo: Matthew Mirabelli. Below: The blastocyst, which the MAP prevents from implanting. Photo: Shutterstock

Pro-life activists are insisting that the morning-after pill is abortive, because the life of the unborn should be protected from the very moment of fertilisation.

“The issue shouldn’t be about when pregnancy begins but when life begins. You cannot deny the humanity of the unborn in the first 15 days of life, because life doesn’t just happen. It’s a process and that is being ignored,” Life Network Malta chairperson Miriam Sciberras told The Sunday Times of Malta.

She was reacting to a judicial protest against the State filed by the Women’s Rights Foundation and backed up by 102 women aged between 16 and 62, and to a subsequent interview with members of the foundation carried in this newspaper.

The foundation demands the licensing, importation and distribution of emergency contraception, which has so far been unavailable from local pharmacies. It argues that the pill is not abortive, because it works either by stopping the ovary from releasing an egg or by thinning the lining of the womb, which prevents implantation of the embryo and so prevents a pregnancy.

But Dr Sciberras shot down the foundation’s stand, claiming “many researchers in the US” have said the morning-after pill is indeed abortifacient.

“The science of embryology is being ignored and the first five to 12 days of human life are being disregarded, as though they are not important. We need to be realistic, a pregnancy has to start somewhere,” she said, adding that there should be no compromises when defending human life.

Contraception should not be a form of management by crisis, as this mentality was identical to that of those who support abortion. “We are very concerned because the arguments being made in favour of emergency contraception are the same as ones made by those who support abortion.”

But why are pro-life activists against the morning-after pill when the contraceptive coil – which has been available in Malta for years – works in a similar way?

Dr Sciberras replied that when used in a way that has an abortifacient effect, they were against this form of contraceptive, too.

Pressed on how the distinction could be made, Dr Sciberras said doctors needed to make sure patients were informed of all its effects. It could also be used for medical purposes.

“The main action of the coil isn’t to stop a pregnancy from occurring, as you can take necessary precautions by using other contraceptives, while the main action of the morning-after pill is to get rid of an unwanted pregnancy,” she said.

She insisted the morning-after pill should not be licensed, even if patients were to be informed of all its potential effects in the same way as when prescribed the coil.

Asked to react to the claim that lack of emergency contraception led to women overdosing on the contraceptive pill, Dr Sciberras said that while the situation was not easy, it did not give anyone the right of choice over another life.

You cannot deny the humanity of the unborn in the first 15 days of life

“Are we getting to a point when, if a new life is inconvenient, then I get rid of it? Everyone speaks up for women but who is going to fight for the unborn?”

She also called for a better understanding of the hierarchy of rights when debating such issues.

“You have the fundamental human rights that in no way can be compared to any other rights. There is right to life and the right to health, which includes reproductive health, but you cannot put them on the same page as though they are equally important.”

Life Network will be conducting an education campaign to raise awareness on the subject.

‘A discrimination issue’

The National Commission for the Promotion of Equality yesterday came out in favour of making the morning-after pill available in Malta.

“Lack of access to the morning-after pill raises an issue of discrimination, since the unavailability of this pill penalises primarily women by denying them a pharmaceutical service that would allow them to exert more control over their life. Emergency contraception is important for women to prevent unwanted pregnancies,” the NCPE said.

Other emergency contraception methods such as the IUD (coil) are already available in Malta but are more costly than the morning-after pill. Licensing of the pill would safeguard the rights of every woman by ensuring emergency contraception is available to all.