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Maltese Majority Back Constitutional Amendment Defending Right to Life for Unborn

By Gudrun Schultz

MARSASCALA, Malta, January 2, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Most Maltese citizens would support a constitutional amendment enshrining the unborn child’s right to life, a new survey has found.

Eighty-four percent of those questioned said they agreed with the survey question, which asked, “Do you agree with the proposed Constitutional amendment to provide the unborn child with the right to life and, therefore, protect Malta further from the possibility of abortion being legalized in the future?”

Only eight percent of respondents voted against the proposal, and 7.7 percent said they were not sure.

While abortion is illegal in the tiny, strongly Catholic nation, there have been growing concerns that future efforts by abortion advocates could potentially undermine legal protection for the unborn without constitutional protection in place.

“These extremely positive research results clearly show that the proposal has the full backing of the Maltese population,” Gift of Life, the organization that commissioned the poll, said in a press release issued December 24, 2006.

“We are confident that the 7.7 per cent who said they are not sure may in fact not fully understand which proposed amendment is being referred to in the survey question.

“The current proposal is different in that is calls for the unborn child to be clearly given the right to life.”

Gift of Life claims it has collected 20,150 signatures in favour of the proposal, calling on the government to follow through on its declared support for greater protection for the unborn. According to Gift of Life, the amendment is backed by 34 of 65 MPs.

The survey, which questioned 300 households, was conducted by Informa Consultants.

Malta has come under intense pressure by the United Nations for maintaining its opposition to abortion.

In 2004 the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights released an official recommendation calling for the Maltese government to reconsider prohibiting abortions, particularly in cases of rape or incest.

In response, the Bishops of Malta issued a press release saying, “The United Nations Committee’s pressure on the Maltese State to legalise abortion in certain circumstances is objectionable and unacceptable. We regret very much the United Nations Committee’s decision to make such unfortunate pressure on our country.”

The bishops encouraged the Maltese to “remain steadfast in their appreciation and defence of human life from its conception, and in their total rejection of abortion.”

See related LifeSiteNews coverage:

Malta Pro-Life Urges Constitutional Protection for Unborn
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/nov/06110702.html

Maltese Prime Minister and Bishop's Conference Reject United Nations Abortion Push
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/dec/04120101.html

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