[WATCH] Valletta hosts pro-life and pro-choice gatherings on Safe Abortion Day

Activists from the pro-life and the pro-choice lobby groups hosted separate public meetings on Saturday afternoon in Valletta, on the occasion of International Safe Abortion Day.

Despite the public debate on the issue, the turnouts to both events were both relatively small, with roughly 200 persons attending both rallies.

The pro-life lobby ‘Abortion in Malta? Not in my name!', which featured members of the religious right in Malta, marked the day with an event outside the Maltese law courts.

Protagonists included the former X Factor contestant and gay conversion witness Matthew Grech, conservative activist Ivan Grech Mintoff, evangelical pastor Gordon John Manché, and the right-wing Catholics from the Pro Malta Christiana grouping, which over the past two years have led rosary rallies on the eve of gay pride marches.

Most of those spoken to at the pro-life rally in Valletta’s Republic Street refused to comment to MaltaToday, citing its a pro-choice editorial stance. One, the former right-wing Azzjoni Nazzjonali activist Philip Beattie, said he “doesn’t speak to journalists of the extreme left.” Pastor Gordon Manche, who has often courted controversy with his views, also refused to comment on camera if his reply would be edited.

One notable exception was Alleanza Bidla politician Ivan Grech Mintoff who said he was there to protest against International Safe Abortion Day. “There is no such thing as a safe abortion,” he said. “Abortion always ends up with an unborn child being murdered. We are here to encourage our parliamentarians, as they have promised us, to amend the Constitution of Malta so that no one can play around with the present wording and tell us, like they did last night, that an embryo is not a person. We are here to say that we are totally against abortion.”

Master of ceremonies, former X-Factor contestant Matthew Grech, elicited cheers from the crowd as he said the abortion issue was “a question of life or death in the womb.”

The crowd was heckled by a passing woman who shouted “women killers!”

A selection of Maltese religious pop music followed. Later, a young singer gave a mournful rendition of “Frozen” by Madonna.

Despite the efforts at making the event seem like a party, the atmosphere at the pro-life rally was somewhat defensive. A number of police officers were present to deal with any possible trouble – mercifully, both rallies were held without incident.

Things were tangibly mellower at the event, officially the first pro-choice rally in Malta, to commemorate Safe Abortion Week. The international focus of this year's theme is #MyAbortionMyHealth

The pro-choice lobbyists met at Hasting Gardens in what is officially the first pro-choice rally in Malta to commemorate the day. The international focus of this year's theme is #MyAbortionMyHealth. 

Organised by Voice For Choice, the rally aimed to raise awareness on the challenges that pregnant people in Malta face to access safe abortion services as well as to challenge the stigma and taboo on Maltese women who have abortions.

Attendees at Hastings heard personal testimonies from women who had been denied abortions, narrated by activists from Break the Taboo, an NGO dealing with reproductive rights. One Maltese woman whose story was read out, said she was refused a termination despite having a non-viable pregnancy. “They forced me to become a walking grave,” she said. “Look me in the eye and call me selfish… People like you do not want to hear our voices.”

Bernie, Lyn and Joanne, three Irish pro-choice activists from Leitrim Abortion Rights told the crowd that women should have the final say when it comes to ending a pregnancy. “Having death as the bar is a very low bar to set and women deserve better. Abortion is a reality and surely you should trust women to make the right decision.”

Lawyer and women’s rights activist Lara Dimitriyevic said that until Malta decriminalises abortion, Voice for Choice would continue to mark the occasion annually. Dimitriyevic said she was heartened by attendance, particularly of young women.

She was hopeful that things would change soon, she said. “We cannot say when because the government says ‘we don’t have a mandate’, but perhaps now they will see that they have a mandate because now momentum is picking up and people are speaking up. People are engaging and are no longer scared to show their faces as they had been made to be feel for the last decade.”

Voice for Choice is the first Maltese pro-choice coalition made up of civil society organisations and individuals who together want to campaign for reproductive rights and justice in Malta. Current organisations members of the coalition are: Aditus, Doctors for Choice, Integra, Malta Humanist Association, Moviment Graffitti, Men Against Violence, Women’s Rights Foundation and Young Progressive Beings