{"id":245362,"date":"2021-05-19T09:40:21","date_gmt":"2021-05-19T14:40:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=245362"},"modified":"2021-05-18T13:28:51","modified_gmt":"2021-05-18T18:28:51","slug":"malta-fights-attempts-decriminalize-abortion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/malta-fights-attempts-decriminalize-abortion\/","title":{"rendered":"Pro-life country of Malta fights attempts to decriminalize abortion"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Malta’s abortion ban is being targeted by a lawmaker who has proposed removing criminal\u00a0penalties<\/a> for abortion.\u00a0A largely Catholic, pro-life country located just south of the Italian island of Sicily, Malta is the only member of the European Union where\u00a0abortion<\/a>\u00a0is illegal except in cases where the\u00a0mother\u2019s life is endangered<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Malta’s President\u00a0George Vella, a doctor, has vowed never to sign a bill that would decriminalize abortion, telling\u00a0Net News<\/a>, \u201cI will never sign a bill that involves the authorisation of murder.\u00a0I cannot stop the executive from deciding, that is up to Parliament. But I do have the liberty, if I don\u2019t agree with a bill, to resign and go home, I have no problem doing this.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added<\/a>, \u201cYou have either killed or not killed, there can be no half death. I\u2019m very clear, there are no ifs and buts.\u201d<\/p>\n

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March for Life 2018 Matla’s abortion ban (Screen image: LifeNetwork Foundation video)<\/p><\/div>\n

According to the Times of Malta<\/a>,\u00a0“Under local law, women who abort can be jailed for up to three years while medical professionals who help carry out the procedure face up to four years behind bars.”<\/p>\n

But independent MP Marlene Farrugia wants<\/a> to “remove the threat of imprisonment, both for the women concerned, and also for whoever helps them procure an abortion.”\u00a0While Farrugia\u00a0acknowledged<\/a> that “… it is true that no woman has ever gone to prison over abortion,” she also insisted that\u00a0“I did not present a bill to either regulate, or introduce, abortion in itself.”<\/p>\n

But American philosopher and theologian Father Marcel Guarnizo told Live Action News that no matter what the MP claims, she is absolutely<\/em> working to legalize abortion.\u00a0“The first step is always to decriminalize abortion.\u00a0But abortion is just another type of murder and therefore a free, just, and democratic society should never decriminalize the killing of the unborn,” he said.<\/p>\n

Farrugia’s statements surrounding her parliamentary proposal read like talking points reminiscent of early efforts to decriminalize<\/a> abortion in the U.S. under the guise of making it “safe, legal and rare.”<\/p>\n

“[Decriminalized abortion] should be there, so that you can do it in a decent, medical way,” Farrugia claimed. “So you don\u2019t have to traumatize yourself in the process; so you don\u2019t have to end up doing it yourself, on your own, with a coat-hanger.” But the killing of preborn human beings through abortion, whether done “decently” and “medically” or not, is still the killing of innocent preborn human beings.<\/p>\n