Pro-life backlash on MaltaToday interview leads to ads withdrawal

A backlash by anti-choice advocates on social media against a MaltaToday interview of an abortion rights activist, has forced the retreat of sponsors of the newspaper.

MaltaToday has respected the wishes of advertisers who feared a backlash from pro-life critics who were incensed at the interview of obstetrician Prof. Isabel Stabile on ‘From The Fringe’. Prof. Stabile is an abortion rights campaigner and part of Doctors For Choice, a pro-choice doctors’ association.

“We thank all our commercial sponsors and respect that they are in business, where decisions are motivated by other concerns. As a newspaper editor, I am not surprised at the undemocratic values of the vocal, anti-choice lobby who use threats of commercial boycotts to cow businesses into submission. Theirs is a disservice to the free press that betrays their illiberal values,” MaltaToday editor Matthew Vella said.

Over the last two seasons, the From The Fringe series has sought to feature characters and personages from Maltese life and society who seldom form part of the daily news cycle and have their own stories to share about the way they live, the jobs they do, or what they believe in.

Taking to the comments section, pro-life individuals voiced their disagreement at comments passed by Prof. Stabile during the interview.

“It’s [abortion] pure evil not a right. If your mother got rid of you in that way, you wouldn’t be here,” one of the commenters said.

Others claimed a conspiracy behind abortion. “The interest of these people is not woman, but to make profit from the fetus abortion. They sell fetus to pharmaceutics to make experiments on it…”

The backlash was taken to the next level, with one of the individuals posting the video to the public Facebook group ‘Abortion in Malta? Not in my name!’, calling on members to “take note of the companies sponsoring the abortionists’ campaign”, hinting at a boycott of the series sponsors.

One of the commenters even blamed natural disasters on the pro-choice lobby. “God have mercy, this is Babel, no wonder all these disasters on earth, like in the times of Noah. Repentance is needed before God will destroy the whole world by pestilence.”