Pro-life movement Gift of Life never specifically requested that anti-abortion laws be entrenched in the Constitution; it was Internal Affairs Minister Tonio Borg who did, said Gift of Life chairman Paul Vincenti.

On 24 January last year, Gift of Life expressed its concern to the Social Affairs Committee that the unborn child was not sufficiently protected by Maltese law. In his speech, the late Dr Michael Micallef said Gift of Life was worried that abortion could be legalised in Malta through a majority vote in Parliament. Gift of Life suggested amending the Constitution to protect human life from the moment of conception.

Dr Micallef had said “We do not presume to say what this amendment should be – we will leave it up to the experts.”

On Friday 6 May, Dr Borg proposed including an anti-abortion law in the Constitution and called on all those who agreed to publicly support him.

“Soon after Dr Borg’s announcement, the first billboards of our promotional campaign were set up all over Malta,” said Mr Vincenti. “We did not time it to coincide with Dr Borg’s proposal, but many people thought we had.”

“We got a lot of flak because of this,” he added. “To this day there are people who attribute it to us.”

In principle, Gift of Life does not agree with the stance taken by Dr Borg to entrench laws banning abortion in the Constitution, said Mr Vincenti.

“However, if there is no alternative solution it is a possibility,” he added.

Gift of Life are proposing another alternative to Dr Borg’s suggestion. “Instead of entrenching anti-abortion laws in the Constitution, we suggest including the right to life from conception,” he said.

Unfortunately, he added, neither Dr Borg’s call nor Gift of Life’s suggestion can move forward either way due to the Labour Party’s lack of response.

“Basically, the minister wants to discuss the bill in Parliament. However, without Labour’s feedback on the subject the final bill cannot be drafted. If the Nationalists take it to Parliament without Labour’s position, the bill could easily be shot down,” said Mr Vincenti. “We are in a stalemate.”

The pro-life group recently launched an on-line petition calling for the right to life starting at conception to become part of the Maltese Constitution.

The group plans to present the signatures to Parliament after the summer recess.

In just under two months, Gift of Life collected around 9,000 signatures – 3,400 signatures were on-line. “The response was tremendous, especially when one considers that the petition was e-mailed to just 400 people.”

In the near future, Gift of Life will send the on-line petition to another 15,000 people to continue collecting as many signatures as possible.

“We received an excellent response from Maltese nationals abroad in Canada and Australia,” said Mr Vincenti. “It is an issue that is close to the heart of the Maltese wherever they are.”

According to a study carried out by the Movement for the Rights, Protection and Development of the Unborn Child, 85 per cent of the respondents said they are against abortion.

Mr Vincenti said Gift of Life will launch a new awareness campaign later this month to revive the discussion on the importance of pro-life.

He explained that Gift of Life is not a spiritual Catholic group. “Some of the members are atheists – it is made up of a number of people with a common vision.”

One of the reasons why Gift of Life is collecting the petitions is to tackle the issue before the next election.

“It is important to discuss this before it is politicised by any party before the election,” said Mr Vincenti. “If not, it means the issue will be discussed with a new government.”

It is not a political issue that needs to be resolved before the election, he added. “However, we are prepared to politicise it if need be. But it will be the last resort, which is why we are working on raising awareness.”

He explained that once pregnant women are placed in a safe environment without outside pressures from their family and partners, they usually decide to keep the baby.

There are many women in Malta who had an abortion and have no one to turn to for solace, added Mr Vincenti.

“By the beginning of next year we hope to open a clinic and charity shop in Mosta. It will offer counselling and medical services to pregnant women. If we cannot help them ourselves, we will refer them to professionals,” he said. “It will also offer help and advice to women who had an abortion and need counselling.”

Mr Vincenti estimated that around 200 Maltese women have an abortion annually. “In 2004, 64 women had an abortion in the UK. However, I can easily say there are 200 abortions a year because many women also go to Sicily.”

Unfortunately, these women suffer in silence as abortion is a taboo subject even with their own partner and family, he pointed out.

Gift of Life does not want to condemn what they did, emphasised Mr Vincenti. “We want to reach out and help these people who have no one to turn to.”