Democratic Party MP Godfrey Farrugia has called for a special parliamentary committee to discuss the rights of the unborn child.

In a motion co-sponsored by Nationalist Party MP Clyde Puli, Dr Farrugia suggested having a committee chaired by Speaker Anglu Farrugia with three government and three opposition members draw up a report about the matter. 

"Partit Demokratiku stands for the dignity and rights of human life," the PD said in a statement this morning. "The dignity of every human being is not only a fundamental right in itself, but constitutes the real basis of fundamental rights."  

INTERVIEW: Godfrey Farrugia sounds warning on abortion

In the statement, PD revealed that Dr Farrugia, who quit as Labour Party whip last April before going on to contest the general election as PD candidate, had written to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil before the summer recess, urging them to agree to the proposed committee. 

"The Leader of Opposition accepted this invite but the Prime Minister failed to acknowledge two successive invites," the PD statement noted.

Opposition MPs subsequently met and a final draft of the resolution was approved.

In an interview with Times of Malta last May, Dr Farrugia had flagged what he considered to be the Labour Party's "double standards" on issues to the party's pro-life stance as one of the key reasons behind his decision to quit the party. 

Read the motion drafted by Dr Farrugia in the PDF below

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