Pro-choice youngsters withdraw from abortion debate after being singled out by pro-life activist

Pro-choice students were forced to drop out of a youth parliament debate on abortion after receiving flak when their names were shared on pro-life social media groups.

From an original list of 27 students, who were to make pro-choice arguments in the National Youth Parliament organised by the Kunsill Nazzjonali taż-Żgħażagħ, 18 dropped out after the list of names of was leaked to notable pro-life activist Simon Debono.

Debono published the list of pro-choice speakers on pro-life discussion groups in an effort to shame and discourage the participants from taking part.

The names of pro-choice youngsters were posted on pro-life social media groups at the start of September in an attempt to discourage them from participating in the National Youth Parliament debate on abortion

His attempts were successful as many of the young participants began dropping out following backlash on social media. Some pro-life advocates went as far as to contact the parents of the participants to convince the speakers to drop out.

Many medical students also began dropping out in fear of facing academic repercussions if any of their conservative lecturers were to discover they are in favour of decriminalising abortion.

Prior to the list being published on social media, the teams were set up relatively fair, with around 27 participants to argue in favour of the motion to decriminalise abortion and 30 to argue against.

Eventually, in the debate that took place on Tuesday morning inside parliament, only nine pro-choice speakers were left to argue the case in favour of decriminalisation.

KNŻ national officer Bradley Cachia told MaltaToday the list of names was an internal document and the source of the leak remains unknown.

KNŻ had denounced the leak when it occurred at the start of the month and condemned any immature behaviour used to intimidate anyone with an opposing opinion.

Labour MP Randolph De Battista, who was present for today’s debate, expressed outrage and disappointment when learning that many participants had dropped out due to social media backlash for simply having an opinion.

In a Facebook post, De Battitsta said “this mentality has to stop in this country”. He said the debate was respectful and mature. “It is never acceptable to discourage young people from making their voices heard on topics that they believe in,” De Battista said.

The debate on abortion was organised by KNŻ for participants aged 18 to 30. The event is an annual occurrence.

KNŻ official Bradley Cachia opened the debate by calling for a mature discussion with fresh new perspectives. He said the scope of this project is to offer a safe space for students to express their diverse opinions and that nobody should be judged on the basis of their own beliefs.

The mock parliamentary session also included a vote on the resolution. 

The outcome of the debate will be presented to the Prime Minister, the Opposition leader and the President.