Right of Reply: Partit Popolari and abortion referendum

Partit Popolari strongly objects to the characterization of it as a far-right party by your journalist, when this description does not in any way reflect either its founding principles, which give priority to the dignity of every individual, or the policies and positions it has adopted since its founding in 2020, which have been similar to those adopted by conservative parties all over the Western world and are similar to the positions taken by the Nationalist Party until the 1990s and early 2000s.

Regarding the campaign for an abrogative referendum on the 2023 amendments to the criminal code concerning abortion, Partit Popolari is surprised that Life Network Foundation appears to be actively defending the changes in the law that may be plausibly exploited through practice and test cases, and ultimately through the courts, to allow abortion in cases of merely possible and long-term non-physical risks to health, which is now explicitly permitted by the law. While the changes to the law were less harmful than those originally proposed by the Government, and Life Network Foundation deserves partial credit for this shift, the changes themselves nevertheless greatly weaken the protections that unborn children enjoy under Maltese law and open a clear pathway to the gradual introduction and normalization of abortion in Malta, even without further changes to the legislation. The mere fact that this is a ‘lesser evil’ relative to the original proposal does not change the fact that it is an evil, which is why we have joined forces with other parties and organizations in an attempt to make the public aware of the nature of the changes, and ultimately to restore the protections that have been removed.