UN Abortion Report: Malta’s Children’s Commissioner Gives A Level-Headed Reaction To The Debate
‘Malta is free to adopt or not the recommendation’: Commissioner notes that rights of the unborn may conflict with rights of a pregnant girl
Malta’s Office of the Commissioner for Children (OCC) has given a tentative green light for the government to pursue the UN’s recommendations for the sexual and reproductive health of adolescent girls, which includes the safe access to abortion and post-abortion services.
Noting that while the recommendations of the UN’s Committee on the Rights of the Child “may come as a surprise or a shock to many of us”, the OCC told Lovin Malta that the possibility of asserting the rights of the unborn may run in direct conflict with “the right to life, health, and best interests of a pregnant girl.”
In fact, the OCC noted that international law does consider the rights of the pregnant child supersede the right to life of an unborn child under the UN Convention.
“Having said this, Malta is free to adopt or not the recommendation, especially in the light of what seems a consensus that the introduction of abortion remains off the political agenda,” the OCC continued.
It also pointed out that the definition of a child within the conversion does remain unclear whether a child’s life begins at conception or some point in between
Beyond calling for the country to ensure the safe access to abortion, the Committee more urgently called for the end of the criminalisation of the practice “in all circumstances” and for a comprehensive sexual and reproductive health policy for adolescents to be implemented.
The OCC said that that such education, including contraception, should be further developed, strengthened, and be made mandatory in all schools.
“Just as children are too young to marry, they are also too young to have children. When this happens, mostly in an unplanned way, children of either sex should be given all the support they need to face the challenges of child-bearing and child-rearing so that these do not stall their individual development.”
The OCC’s position is almost unique amongst Malta’s state institutions as the debate surrounding abortion still elicits a passionate response from the staunchly Catholic Malta. The topic itself was incredibly taboo until recently as pro-choice groups began to form around the island, including one involving medical professionals.
This, understandably, has created a counter movement with 670 pro-life doctors coming together, including Malta’s President George Vella.
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