The fight in favour of life has no political colour, Opposition Leader Bernard Grech said while addressing a public meeting on Sunday about the government's bill to amend the country's abortion laws.

Grech, addressing the crowd, said that the fight in favour of life has "no age, no orientation, no social class." The foetus inside a mother's womb "is a life, just like every other life who was born," he said.

The government's bill has caused national controversy. The PN has come out against the wording of the bill.

Grech said that this is not only the PN's fight.  "It is a fight of the Maltese people. We are not here to politicise an issue. We are not going to let anyone try and stop us from defending life by trying to tell us that we are politicizing this issue. It would be a big mistake for anyone not to speak up because they are afraid. If we fear defending life, then what are we ready to defend?"

He said that the government wants to change the law without having an electoral mandate to do so.

"Before the election, we heard how we (the PN) and the PL were in favour of life. Today the only party in favour of life is the PN." But, he said, that this doesn't mean that just nationalists are in favour of life. "We know people who don't support any party, and even labourites who are with us in this public meeting as they believe, like us, in this value."

He said that no matter what the Prime Minister claims about the bill, it is abortion.

"This is the moment to speak out, to be a united force of people in favour of human rights, in favour of life."

He said that this is a fight for the unborn child, "and we must all be united in this fight."

A number of other speakers also spoke during the activity.

Peppi Azzopardi told the story of a man who he met called Chris and his husband Steve, who applied to adopt a child. There were 50 couples before them in the queue for adoption, Azzopardi said, but there was a boy nobody wanted to adopt, a boy called Ben who had Down Syndrome. Chris and his partner chose to adopt this child, he said.

Azzopardi said that Chris told him to fight the government's bill. "He told me if abortion is introduced, the first they will kill are children like Ben, who have Down Syndrome. What will I tell Ben when he grows and asks me why children with Down Syndrome are being killed?"

He said that the government is insisting to introduce the bill so that no women and doctor end up in prison. "How can we believe that the government is worried about a woman being sent to prison when until a year ago, we had a prison that was being led in the most fascist way and treated women like garbage."

"Do you remember Kim, a 29 year-old women broken by drugs. A judge sent her to prison and insisted that the Director to give her a chance for care. When Kim asked to go to Caritas, and Caritas were ready to greet her, they didn't let her go. She was locked in her cell. With her, 14 other people died in their cells. It was as though nothing was happening. Were you not worrying about sending people to prison back then?"

He said that Giovanni Bonello said that "in 200 years no doctor or woman ended up in prison for saving a woman's life, even if the baby died as a consequence."

Azzopardi said that another reason the government wants to introduce the amendment is as it is worrying about the women's health. "I ask the government: those migrants escaping Libya, how are you not worried about their health, and are sending them back to Libya?" He mentioned a refugee who he had interviewed who lives in Malta years ago had told him that when she was in Libya, she was raped every day for 9 months, he said. "If she came to Malta now, the government would have sent her back to Libya to continue being raped. As Pope Francis said, in Libya they rape migrants, torture them and kill them... and we are looking out for women's health?"

Another reason is so that a case like Prudente's would not repeat itself, he said. "What case? Do you remember them saying her life was in peril? Now doctors who helped her testified and said she was never in peril of dying." He questioned why the government hadn't defended Malta at the time it was being attacked internationally on this issue.

The other speakers were Professor George Buttigieg, Dr Daniela Zerafa and Miran Sapiano.