The pro-life country of Malta is under increasing pressure to embrace abortion and assisted suicide. Recently, a newly-formed political party penned a new manifesto, urging the Maltese people to abandon their pro-life principles.
Volt, a new progressive independent political party, released an electoral manifesto that calls for abortion to be decriminalized and legalized specifically in the first trimester when using the abortion pill regimen. Volt also called for surgical abortions to be legal under “exceptional circumstances.”
“[W]hether someone wants to be pregnant and to carry it to term should always be a choice,” the manifesto read. “No one should be forced to be an incubator.” In addition to calling for chemical abortions to be legal, it also said it should be available anonymously, through telemedicine — which puts women at serious risk of injury.
Furthermore, the party wants assisted suicide to be legalized, although they did not call for active euthanasia — where a doctor kills the patient themselves — to be made legal. “Volt believes that every person has the right to determine how to end their life with dignity, as long as no other person’s life is harmed,” the manifesto continued, adding, “In particularly grave situations of ‘constant and unbearable physical suffering that cannot be alleviated,’ a person may seek assistance to terminate their life and deserves to be supported to do so with dignity.”
This is an ironic statement, considering that the party thinks the lives of preborn human beings should be ended with no regard to their right to life.
READ: New report compares abortion laws around the world
Malta, like Latin America, has come under increasing pressure from outside groups to abandon its pro-life policies, though just last month, the Maltese government continued to resist. The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, demanded that Malta repeal its ban on abortion, which she claimed threatened women’s right to life, to be free from torture and discrimination, and to privacy. The government responded with complete rejection, stating:
Whilst Malta is fully committed to providing access to reproductive healthcare, and is working to improve these services, including the strengthening of comprehensive sexual health education, through a multisectoral approach, Malta does not agree with the interpretation that the right to sexual and reproductive health services includes an intrinsic right to abortion.
Previously, the International Commission of Jurists submitted a report to the UN Human Rights Council, calling Malta’s pro-life laws torture and claiming they put women’s lives at risk. The intentional killing of preborn human beings, however, is never truly medically necessary.
While many Latin American countries have caved to the pressure to legalize abortion or assisted suicide, Malta has continued to stay firm, and pro-lifers hope the country remains as such.
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