George Vella’s no to abortion Bill forced government’s hand

Government had no choice but to amend its own abortion Bill to avoid the embarrassment of having George Vella resign from president, MaltaToday can reveal. 

Sources close to the president said Vella made it amply clear to the government that he would not sign the Bill if it insisted on the original wording. 

Prime Minister Robert Abela did not want the prospect of a presidential resignation, which would have been the first since Malta became a republic, on his watch. 

“It would have been politically embarrassing and caused somewhat of a constitutional crisis, something the Prime Minister was not too keen on,” the sources said. 

The President’s insistence led to a revision in the wording of the proposed law, which will now be presented at committee stage in parliament. 

The revised Bill 28 still allows doctors to terminate a pregnancy if the woman’s life or health is in danger but qualifies the meaning of “grave jeopardy” with reference to health as a circumstance that “can lead to death”. 

The new changes also introduce the concept of a three-member medical team that will be deciding on termination of pregnancies and makes it clear that a viable foetus has to be birthed. 

The changes appear to have garnered broad consensus with several pro-life NGOs and Archbishop Charles Scicluna welcoming them. However, pro-choice groups were left disappointed at the more restrictive drafting to what they had already considered as the bare minimum. 

In an opinion piece appearing today, Chris Fearne, Jonathan Attard and Rebecca Buttigieg acknowledge that the proposal will generate different reactions but insist it will provide “peace of mind in extraordinary circumstances where a woman may develop a condition that puts her life at risk”. 

“Not acting or pretending that problems can be solved simply by looking the other way, for us, will never be an option. We are acting responsibly to save lives,” they say.