[WATCH] As PN closes door on abortion decriminalisation, Labour toys with ‘internal discussion’ on Farrugia bill

The Opposition leader’s announcement on Wednesday evening that the Nationalist Party will not support any Bill to decriminalise the imprisonment of women who terminate a pregnancy, has given Labour new elbow room.

On Thursday, all government ministers canvassed at their public conferences by MaltaToday journalists had the same line on the Marlene Farrugia abortion decriminalisation bill: “We will be discussing the issue internally.”

The playbook is: Labour hasn’t closed the doors, unlike the PN, but abortion is not on our electoral programme.

None of the ministers, not even female ministers like former MEP Miriam Dalli, would allow themselves to be drawn into expressing their personal opinion on whether Malta should keep incarcerating women to up to three years for terminating a pregnancy.

A relative majority in Malta believes it is time to decriminalise liability of women who seek an abortion, a Polar survey conducted in April found.

Instead, they rode on Bernard Grech’s intransigence, as evidenced by the comment from transport minister Ian Borg: “The PN has already declared itself against, or at least their leader of his own accord, as is customary in the PN… the government manifesto is what it is,” he said, saying the Labour parliamentary group are yet to discuss the Farrugia bill.

Every single minister attempted some somersault to exonerate themselves of a personal opinion on jailing women who get an abortion.

This was Ian Borg’s:  “My opinion of that is something I will discuss at home or with friends. I am a government member; opining is not mine to do, mine is legislating, so I don’t have to tell you my opinion. I can only tell you what our parliamentary group will decide upon when we do…”

Energy and Enterprise Minister Miriam Dalli toed the same line: a discussion will be held among the Labour Party’s parliamentary group, and that she will put forward her decision there. She was specifically entreated by MaltaToday to tell us if she disagreed with women’s incarceration over terminations, but she refused to answer it.

“Our position will be as a whole parliamentary group,” she said. “We’re not going to do like the Nationalist Party, where we say that we'll discuss the issue and then the leader of the party goes ahead and publishes his position.”

Culture Minister Jose Herrera said that abortion was a “sensitive subject” and government MPs will be discussing the bill before issuing their position. Herrera insisted he is still against abortion.

Asked whether he feels a woman who has undergone an abortion should be incarcerated, Herrera said the court already takes a cautious approach when dealing with these cases. “I cannot even remember a single case where a woman was imprisoned for having an abortion,” he said. “Undoubtedly the wider consensus in the country is that the cases should be approached with sympathy and compassion, rather than retaliation. And I feel this is the court’s approach.”

When asked for his views on the abortion decriminalisation Bill and whether he personally agrees that women who have an abortion should be imprisoned, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana reiterated Herrera’s comments that he would be discussing the issue internally before issuing his position.

“I form part of a parliamentary group and the matter still has to be discussed. I am looking forward to that discussion and after it takes place the parliamentary group will officially communicate its position,” he said. “This is a sensitive matter and should not be politicised. I will make my position known in the parliamentary group.”

On Wednesday, independent MP Marlene Farrugia filed the historic bill in parliament, calling for the decriminalisation of abortion.

“It makes absolutely no sense,” Farrugia said, “that a woman looking for self-determination, looking for medical intervention, ends up being criminalised and condemned instead of being offered help.”