This Is What Malta’s MPs Have To Say About Euthanasia
To this day, euthanasia remains completely illegal here in Malta. Whilst no formal attempts to legalise the practice have been made locally in recent years, support for its legalisation amongst the general public seems to be on the increase.
Lovin Malta headed to Valletta to ask Malta’s MPs whether or not they agree with euthanasia. Here’s what they had to say.
Byron Camilleri – Home Affairs Minister
Camilleri went against the grain and expressed his support towards this practice – provided that it’s controlled. In another vox pop conducted by Lovin Malta, the Minister had also admitted that he had previously smoked weed; although he wasn’t too proud of it.
Silvio Parnis – Parliamentary Secretary for Active Ageing and Persons
Parnis stood firmly by his Catholic views and kept insisting that he’s ‘pro-life’. This Junior Minister was one of the few Labour MPs to completely shut down euthanasia.
Beppe Fenech Adami – PN MP
Fenech Adami came straight out against euthanasia – however he refused to comment about what dictates his ideologies.
Chris Fearne – Deputy Prime Minister, Health Minister
As Deputy Prime Minister, Fearne said that euthanasia will be discussed in the parliamentary group in the future, after which point, the government will formally come forward with a position about the matter. Having said that, Fearne refused to speak up about whether he agrees with euthanasia or not.
Miriam Dalli – PL MP
This newly-elected MP expressed her support for euthanasia, saying that she’s in favour of it “when needs be”.
Clifton Grima – Parliamentary Secretary for Youth & Sport
Like his colleague Silvio Parnis, Grima stood by his pro-life values and wholeheartedly disagreed with euthanasia.
Bernard Grech – Opposition Leader
Grech gave no straight answer about the matter, although he did highlight that “life is life”, making us think that he is more likely to come out against euthanasia. Grech’s conservative views shone through last September, wherein he stated that he would resign as Prime Minister if a referendum about abortion was ever successful under his stead.
Aaron Farrugia – Environment Minister
Farrugia came out wholeheartedly in favour of euthanasia, and he even had a couple of strong words to support his position. “I believe that a person who is in extreme pain – an experience which I’ve witnessed first hand – should have control over their own body,” Farrugia said.
This Minister had come out in favour of euthanasia a few months ago, when he expressed his support for the practice in the comment section of Labour Deputy Leader Daniel Micallef’s post supporting euthanasia.
Jose Herrera – Heritage, Arts, And Local Councils Minister
Arts Minister Jose Herrera came out against euthanasia, saying that it goes against his morals. The Minister also highlighted that countries that have legalised the practice have abused it.
Owen Bonnici – Education Minister
Bonnici didn’t come out in favour of euthanasia, however he insisted that one should look at this issue on an individual level.
Glen Bedingfield – Government Whip
Bedingfield didn’t give a straightforward answer, saying that this issue cannot be explained with a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. Having said that, he highlighted that we should be open to discussions about the matter according to the circumstances of the individual.
Evarist Bartolo – Foreign Affairs Minister
Bartolo’s position was similar to Owen Bonnici’s – they both didn’t come out in favour of it however insisted to look at cases individually.
Edward Scicluna – Finance Minister
Scicluna was quite straightforward with his answer – he’s not in favour of euthanasia and he doesn’t think it will be legalised in Malta.
Robert Arrigo – PN Deputy leader
Arrigo came out against euthanasia, however he highlighted that “like everything, there are exceptions”.
Whilst it seems like Malta is still far from legalising euthanasia, a number of key figures in Malta’s political sphere have come out in favour of this practice.
Prior to this vox pop, Labour deputy leader Daniel Micallef came out in favour of voluntary euthanasia – shortly after news came out that New Zealand voted to legalise it in a referendum.
Similarly, newly-elected MEP Cyrus Engerer suggested holding a referendum to legalise euthanasia, highlighting that he “really likes” the way New Zealand handled the controversial topic.