Domestic violence bill should include reference to unborn child, says former minister

Former Foreign Affairs minister, and retired family doctor, George Vella, has called on law makers to keep the unborn child in the definition of "family" in the Domestic Violence Bill, amendments to which are currently being debated by parliament.

"The term “an ascendant or descendant”, Part 1, Art 2 (d) as proposed in the Bill before Parliament, is too vague," wrote Vella. "Not including the unborn child in the definition of “family” conveys the wrong message, and will not be consonant with the Prime Minister’s repeated declarations of his opposition to abortion."

Current domestic violence legislation lists the unborn child in its definitions of family unit, something the Opposition wants to retain in the new law. Government MPs have however voted against a motion to re-introduce the term 'unborn child'.

In his piece, published in the Times of Malta on Saturday, Vella said it was amply clear that the campaign for the eventual legalisation of abortion was "gearing up and using all available means to keep the issue on the front burner".

This, he said, was happening in spite of  reassurances from the Prime Minister, that there was no chance of abortion being legalised under his watch.

Referring to last month's MaltaToday survey, Vella said that the over-whelming percentage of the population is against abortion across the whole spectrum, but the prospect of legalisation is still cropping up.

Vella said he was appalled by the European Commissioner for Human Rights’ "patriarchal and didactic" calls for Malta to introduce abortion, adding that the commissioner's last weeks in office would be better spent dealing with more serious issues like human rights for people in war-stricken countries like Syria.

“The commissioner astounds me when he speaks of avoiding what he calls “ill treatment” of the mother in the same breath that he recommends the killing of the foetus/baby (throughout pregnancy),” wrote Vella.

He said that the act of not killing an unborn child does not abide by religious principles, but against the unnatural act of killing one’s offspring.“It is because it is intrinsically wrong and against nature.”