The group issued a statement reacting to Dr Borg’s proposal to enshrine a ban on abortion in the Constitution.

“Moviment Graffitti wishes that no women should ever be constrained to have an abortion.” However, unfortunately, contemporary societies are far from achieving this goal because exponents from both sides of the issue are hurling their points at the opposite side without listening to all of the facts.

It is of the utmost importance that everyone recognises that the issue of abortion is not merely black or white but one that it deserves healthy debate, little of which has been held, the statement said.

One of the reasons why some women opt to have an abortion is because they are in great financial and social despair and therefore reasonably foresee that they will not be able to properly and decently bring up their child. Laws against abortion do not help or protect such women. On the contrary, at times, they make the situation worse.

Cases exist were women opt to have an abortion in secret because of the mentioned social and financial disparities, which in turn (because it is illegal) means that it is usually carried out in a very unsafe way. There have been numerous cases in which women have been hospitalised or have died from complications arising from an unsafe abortion.

Graffiti emphasised that if the government believes that the authorities want to eliminate abortion, they should not merely legislate against it.

They ought to provide decent alternatives for women to be able to take care of their children through welfare benefits and social assistance which today are not enough to maintain a family.

“Moviment Graffitti is afraid that the reason for amending the Constitution so as to include provisions against abortion is merely a media stunt by the parties involved. While the Justice and Home Affairs Ministry is making so much fuss regarding abortion, nobody in either party is proposing a measure that will concretely ameliorate the conditions of women who risk the possibility of resorting to abortion,” the statement said.

In conclusion, the group insisted that Maltese MPs should work hard to find ways of eradicating the causes of abortion rather than passing laws which are ineffective, especially given the fact that the number of women that commit abortion is not declining.

“Therefore, Moviment Graffitti does not agree with the inclusion of the abortion ban in the Constitution,” the statement ended.