President George Vella has broken with tradition when he raised the issue of abortion during his Republic Day speech.
Bonġu News on 15 December 2022
Abortion: Vella does not exclude going abroad
President George Vella has remained non-committal as to whether he will sign abortion amendments into law.
Vella does not exclude going abroad again to avoid signing legal changes related to medical emergency abortions.
“We will speak when we have the final amendments approved by parliament”, the president told journalists on Wednesday.
After IVF genetic testing was approved in parliament last July, Vella flew to the UK so his stand-in had to sign.
It is an open secret that Vella has intimated his resignation rather than putting his signature on abortion amendments.
Grech: No apology for mocking Prudente
Opposition leader Bernard Grech has declined to apologise for mocking Andrea Prudente.
Grech mocked the American woman for “wanting” an abortion after travelling more than 20 hours to Malta on a baby-moon, saying the doctors and nurses were “more prudent” than her.
His speech in Parliament has been heavily criticised by women’s and pro-choice NGOs. Moviment Graffitti called for Grech’s resignation.
Andrea Prudente, who suffered from symptoms of a miscarriage during her vacation in June, had to be evacuated to Mallorca to have her no longer viable pregnancy terminated.
Now Grech told the Times of Malta that he had only spoken of the facts when referring to Prudente’s 20-hour flight.
An actual fact: Commercial air travel before week 36 of a healthy pregnancy is generally considered safe.
Sakharov Prize to the people of Ukraine
The European Parliament awarded its ‘Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought’ to the people of Ukraine.
Awarding the prize, EP President Roberta Metsola spoke of the courage and sacrifices of the Ukrainian people.
“We stand with Ukraine. We will not look away. The Ukrainian people are not just fighting a war of independence but fighting a war of values. The values which underpin our life in the European Union and that we have long had the luxury of taking forgranted each and every day”, Metsola said.
