Maltese bishops tell MPs to be ‘in favour of life, not death’ in abortion amendment decision

Malta’s Bishops have issued a missive expressing their preoccupation with an amendment to Malta’s total abortion ban, that is being debated in the House of Representatives.

The amendment allows doctors to carry out terminations in cases where pregnancy endangers the mother’s life or health.

The Bishops say that by referring to “health” the amendment will allow terminations in situations in which “it is not the mother’s life that is in danger, but her health, and proposes that health can be safeguarded by killing a new human life. This means abortion.”

The Catholic leaders – Archbishop Charles Scicluna, Gozo Bishop Anton Teuma, and Auxiliary Bishop, Joseph Galea Curmi – said mothers should be given all the support they need but not at the expense of a human life. “When respect for the dignity of the baby in the womb is denied, the foundation of respect for the dignity of each human being – including that of the woman and the professional – is destroyed,” they said.

“We also make a special appeal to those who bear the great responsibility of taking a decision regarding the amendment, so that their choice will be in favour of life and not in favour of death. We beseech our Mother Mary, Immaculate Conception, who always reminds us of life that starts from conception, to intercede for us and to help us always protect each human life with great care.”

A pro-life protest on Sunday will demonstrate against the proposed amendment, sparked from the case of an American woman denied a termination of an unviable pregnancy that risked her life, and being forced to procure the termination in an emergency evacuation to Spain.

But the Bishops claim Maltese doctors already try to save mother and baby, “and when they are not successful in saving both of them, they save the mother. Whenever this has happened over the years, legal problems were never created for the mothers or the doctors. There was no need for the law to be changed for the mother to be saved were she in danger of dying.”