‘Fejn Kont?’: Rosianne Cutajar Slams Metsola For Political Hypocrisy After She Criticises US Over Roe V Wade
Labour MP Rosianne Cutajar called Roberta Metsola out for political hypocrisy after the European Parliament President criticised the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn a landmark abortion ruling while saying nothing about the case of Andrea Prudente.
“Roberta Metsola tweeted out her solidarity with American women… well done for that but excuse me, where were you a day earlier?” Cutajar said in Parliament tonight. “In what universe were you when an American woman risked dying in Malta because our laws are so restrictive that they don’t even allow abortion for medical purposes?”
In a tweet after the US Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v Wade ruling, Metsola warned that “the regression of women’s rights in the US, and in other places around the globe, is a worrying trend”.
“The European Parliament will keep standing up for women, equality and liberty.”
Several people under her tweet called her out for not speaking about the situation in her home country of Malta, which has some of the world’s most stringent anti-abortion laws.
“Women in Malta have never even had those rights let alone regressed. Did you forget us?” ADPD deputy chairperson Sandra Gauci asked.
Feminist activist Pia Micallef noted that PN woman’s branch president Francine Farrugia played down the Prudente case as “sensationalism” and said that foreigners’ expectations on abortion services are to blame.
Many people also posted links to stories of Prudente, a US tourist whose waters broke after 16 weeks of pregnancy, leaving no amniotic fluid for her foetus to grow or breathe, but who was denied the chance to terminate her pregnancy in Malta and who had to be airlifted to Spain.
Cutajar, one of a handful of openly pro-choice Maltese politicians, decried Metsola’s stance on abortion is a “clear example of political hypocrisy”.
“Before the opportunity to become European Parliament President arose and she only harboured local aspirations, she was openly anti-abortion,” she said.
“She has every right to her opinion but, wonder of wonders, everything changed as soon as she was about to become President and her position suddenly became the European position [that abortion is a human right].”
Andrea Prudente (left) with her partner
“Do values and principles change from day to night and according to which country we’re speaking about? Conservative in Malta but liberal in Europe and America?”
“Charity begins at home. If you’re so sad because American women will lose this right to abortion, then see what is happening in your own country.”
“In Malta, there are situations where a woman can die because she cannot have an abortion. No matter your views on abortion, no woman should lose her life because of our restrictive laws, and if we agree on nothing else, let’s agree on this point.”
“Every woman must have peace on mind that her life won’t be placed at risk; it’s the last thing we can do to her – to ensure that her own health isn’t treated as a secondary priority.”
Cover photo: Left: European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, Right: PL MP Rosianne Cutajar, Inset: Andrea Prudente
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