Medical ethics professor Pierre Mallia sent an important message on the way Malta should tackle the subject of euthanasia, if and when it takes centre-stage.

In an interview he gave to The Malta Independent on Sunday, Mallia said that the political parties, the Church and the government should keep away from the serious discussion that is needed.

They should not be interfering, he said, mostly to avoid leading to a rushed referendum as happened when divorce was introduced in 2011. That time, the topic was dominated by the political ramifications rather than the subject per se.

Euthanasia, a matter of life and death, is a more delicate subject than divorce. And, as such, it should be treated as sensibly as possible.

Now, it is clear that Mallia knows that the political parties and the Church will inevitably have a say when euthanasia is placed on the national agenda. He understands that these institutions will speak out, in favour or against, or for a middle ground to be found, when euthanasia is being debated. The politics and morality of euthanasia cannot be ignored by political parties and the Church.

But his message was clear.

What he was saying is that the debate should involve a wider spectrum of our society, in particular experts in the field. It should not be limited to the House of Representatives and the churches.

Too often, politicians take over a national debate when they do not have the knowledge to really speak about the subject, and turn it into a political football. This is mostly because their intentions are for their party to gain political points, and every opportunity is an opportunity for them to gain ground on the political field. It is always a matter of votes for politicians.

In the case of euthanasia, politicians and even the Church should take a step back and allow the discussion to develop, mostly, among the experts.

What Mallia was also saying indirectly is that we should also be careful about what happens on the social media. We all have experienced situations when social media platforms have been used to voluntarily or involuntarily distribute fake information. Everyone and his/her dog have an opinion – and they have a right to it – but unfortunately the spreading of false news has reached new heights with the advent of social media. It happened with Covid, it is happening with the Ukraine war and monkeypox, and we expect it to happen on euthanasia too.

Prime Minister Robert Abela, in the weeks preceding the election, said that a discussion on euthanasia needs to be started. The Labour government has been in the forefront in coming up with liberal laws which have changed our society and its landscape.

It is possible that, in this legislature, the government comes up with legislation that will lay down the foundations for euthanasia to be introduced in Malta. If and when that happens, the government – and the political parties and the Church – should take note of what Mallia has said.