Watch: I Wouldn’t Be Here If My Parents Had Aborted Me, Adopted Maltese Pro-Life Activist Tells Debate
A 16-year-old pro-life activist took an emotional stance to convince people that legalising abortion would be a bad idea during the latest TV debate on the topic.
During a debate on ONE TV’s Awla last night, Alexander Camilleri repeatedly brought up the fact that he was adopted as a child.
“I cannot agree with abortion because if my biological parents had chosen to abort me, I wouldn’t be here to defend these potential people,” he said. “Abortion shouldn’t exist… there are other alternatives like adoption out there.”
“Many people with fertility issues want to build a family and legalising abortion will terminate the dreams of all those couples who wish to adopt.”
On the other side of the fence, pro-choice activist Sephora Vella argued that there are many circumstances – such as financial and medical reasons or cases of rape – where abortion is a necessity.
“Adoption is a possibility but do you think it is easy for a parent to put up their child for adoption knowing that they can’t provide them with a decent standard of living?” she questioned.
“Rather than tackling the root of the poverty problem, their solution is to kill the baby,” Camilleri countered.
Pro-choice activist Sephora Vella
Both activists took part in a recent abortion debate at the National Youth Parliament, a symbolic moment for a country that has some of the work’s strictest anti-abortion laws.
While the debate itself was praised for its maturity, it was marred by the no-show of a number of youths from the pro-choice side. The National Youth Council (KNŻ), which organised the event, attributed this to their names being published on a popular pro-life Facebook group administered by Simon Debono.
However, Debono denied that he published their names in an attempt to intimidate them.
Should Malta decriminalise abortion?
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