Updated | ‘PN scraping bottom of the barrel’ says PM on abortion talk [WATCH]

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has used his own track record in the European Parliament as the "guarantee" that he and the government are firmly against abortion.

"My track record in the European Parliament is the proof that I am categorically against abortion. The last politician to beat about the bush on the issue was [European Commisioner] Tonio Borg during his EP hearing," the Prime Minister said.

Addressing the press right after visiting a family in Isla, Muscat accused the Nationalist Opposition of "scraping the bottom of the barrel" in an attempt at invoking abortion as a possiblity under a Labour government.

According to Opposition leader Simon Busuttil, the government was not categorical against abortion; according to the former PN leader Lawrence Gonzi, the floodgates were now open.

"I categorically deny that me or this government will introduce abortion," Muscat said this evening.

Gonzi has also said that his statements on gay adoption were being quoted “in a manner that is unacceptable to me and to the values I have championed all my life."

Gonzi's comments have been repeatedly used in the adoption-by-gay-couples debate as showing that he had never argued against adoption by gay couples.

Muscat has however rejected the suggestion that Gonzi's comments were being misinterpreted in any way.

"I remember his declarations very clearly and I agreed that adoption should not be based on the sexual orientation of the prospective parents. The only difference is that Gonzi may have changed his position or is interpreting differently what he said," the PM added.

Muscat insisted that his own position was consistent.

In a statement earlier today, the government said it was “strongly” against abortion, the ministry for civil liberties reiterated.

The ministry’s comments followed statements by the Opposition which raised questions on the government’s allegedly dubious stand on abortion.

The issue of abortion arose again this week, after parliament voted on the civil unions legislation and the parties launched their electoral campaigns for the European Parliament elections.

“The government is consistently and categorical against abortion,” the ministry said, accusing the leader of the Opposition of deceiving the public.

Busuttil has insisted that a denial by the government that a debate on abortion laws was not on the cards, was not as categorical as government has claimed to be.

Busuttil was commenting on an opinion piece penned by former PN leader Lawrence Gonzi, who set out on a defence of Busuttil's party's abstention during a parliamentary vote on civil unions that also accorded gay couples the right to adopt children.

Gonzi has claimed that an "abortion debate" could be next on the political agenda adding that he was yet to be convinced that abortion was not a possibility under the Labour government.

“With its scaremongering tactics, the Opposition is mixing issues to satisfy its purely puerile and partisan arguments. The Labour Party, both in government and opposition, was and is consistently against the introduction of abortion in Malta,” the civil liberties ministry replied.