The proposal by Gift of Life to entrench the illegality of abortion in our Constitution has apparently caused much anguish to Raphael Vassallo (TMIS, 22 October).
His torment appears to derive primarily from two tenets, namely that – i) he is convinced that we are sufficiently insulated from the introduction of abortion into this country by virtue of existing legislation and, further, by promises from all the main political parties that they are anti-abortion and ii) he is able to perceive situations where abortion would probably be a correct option.
He is somewhat less visionary when it comes to understanding that the keystone of the entire pro-abortion concept is deception. It masquerades as compassion, as a social need, as medical progress and as a woman’s right but, ultimately, it is no more and no less than a malevolent, profit-driven move to persuade men and women that it is OK to kill their unborn children. Deception, however, by its very nature has to be introduced gradually, step by step, thereby allowing people sufficient time to get used to one aspect of it before introducing the next. Nowhere in the world was this barbaric concept ushered in overnight. The tired old arguments that so trouble Mr Vassallo’s mind, ie, threats to the mother’s life, bizarre congenital anomalies and others, are no more than one facet of this stealth-based approach. The only point of it is to use extreme examples to introduce legislation that eventually is broadened in scope until any originally self-imposed limitations no longer exist. There is an old legal maxim which states: “The hard case makes bad law”. Nowhere is this more evident than in the history of abortion law throughout the world – uncountable millions of dead children can vouch for this. By the time the bogus examples cited are shown up for what they really are, it is invariably too late to stem the consequential tide of gruesome deaths on an inconceivable scale. Abortion is only ever introduced by the back door and there are always plenty of acolytes happy to do the knocking.
Mr Vassallo correctly quotes the political parties’ stated views on this subject. It is amusing to observe his sudden burst of confidence in our politicians and their promises, bearing in mind the incessant weekly tirades of invective and abuse, directed at the members of the House, with which he has regularly graced the pages of this newspaper.
We are now members of the EU, an institution that has sold out virtually completely to the abortion concept. It would be extremely politically naïve to believe that we will not eventually be subjected to enormous pressure from the EU to adopt this legislation too, especially when we are currently need so much from them. In fact, Malta has already been targeted in this regard and it remains to be seen how far we are prepared to resist merely for the sake of our moral beliefs.
If the latest MEP votes on Embryonic Stem Cell research funding are anything to go by, it would be unwise of us to bet too heavily on the staunch moral fibre of some of our representatives in Brussels. It has been pointed out over and over again that, as things stand, it will only take a simple majority in Parliament, that is, one extra vote, to overturn current legislation on this issue. What the Gift of Life organisation, as well as others, wish is to make this very realistic, near-future, scenario a shade less likely, simply by making it more difficult to enact the necessary legislative changes. It is not about making the illegal more illegal. It is about pre-empting the inevitable. The abortion debate will undoubtedly crop up here, just as it has done everywhere else. Now is the time to lay down as much of the groundwork as possible, before the crisis manifests itself. Assuredly, the abortion movement is already very active in this country. True to its founder’s principle, one of its greatest achievements is duping people into believing it doesn’t exist.
Ivan Padovani
BIDNIJA