On the 2 February 2020 HE George Vella took to the stage and said, "Abortion is the murder of a baby in a woman’s womb," as reported by the Times of Malta.
Of course His Excellency is entitled to his own personal opinion, but when he flaunts it as head of an EU member state it creates several problems, and it has implications on the State's relationship with its own citizens and other countries. Let's focus on the two main problems here.
1. Does the President believe that his own citizens who have had an abortion are murderers?
We know for a fact that hundreds of women in Malta have an abortion each year. The majority of abortions, whether conducted abroad or illegally in Malta, are performed by the pregnant woman administering two tablets to herself, thereby causing a miscarriage.
Since these women are effecting their own abortion, does our President believe they are murderers? If so, it does not quite convey the compassion expected from our head of state, and certainly does not help to reduce the stigma against women in Malta who have had an abortion.
2. Does the President believe that legislators of other countries, including all other EU member states, have legalised murder?
Malta is the only EU member state with a complete ban on abortion, which means all other states have legalised it to varying degrees. In light of his view that "abortion is murder," does our President believe other countries have legalised murder?
If this is the case Malta should have no business forming part of such a block of states, and perhaps our President should start campaigning for our country to leave the EU. Of course this is unlikely to happen for as long as Malta remains a net beneficiary of EU money.
“I will oppose a European budget that would help finance social, fiscal divergence or differences on values,” said French President Emmanuel Macron regarding the upcoming EU budget negotiations. Perhaps alongside Poland and Hungary, he should also have a chat with Malta and its attitude towards women's reproductive rights.