Local lawyer and devoted activist Lara Dimitrijevic has ripped into PN MEP candidate Lee Bugeja Bartolo’s comment on a European Parliament vote on abortion.

“The quality of politicians acumen is, honestly, pathetic,” Dimitrijevic told Lovin Malta. 

Yesterday, the European Parliament voted to enshrine abortion into the Charter of Fundamental Rights, causing a mixed reaction from Malta, with pro-choice people celebrating the win and individuals from the other camp denouncing it.

Bugeja Bartolo was one of the people staunchly against it, telling Lovin Malta that the whole vote is “bollocks”. He claimed that “life” should be protected and that while he supports women who don’t want to raise children, he doesn’t support the notion of pregnancy termination. His comment prompted a frustrated reaction from activists all over the country who have been fighting this seemingly uphill battle for years.

“The fact that an issue that affects half of the population, not only in Malta but in Europe and worldwide, can be treated in such a derogatory manner by people who aspire to be lawmakers at EU level, shows that our political class suffers from both ignorance and incompetence,” the founder of Women’s Rights Foundation said. 

“The issue is bandied about in such a reckless, unthoughtful, and tokenistic manner as something that can be mistreated and rubbished, again shows how deeply seeded misogyny is in our country. Nothing else there but misogyny.”