Abortion has always been considered as a taboo topic in Malta, with the country having very strict abortion laws, including when the mother’s life is at risk. However, during this year’s annual Youth Parliament session organised by the National Youth Council (KNŻ) that took place on September 27, both pro-life and pro-choice activists were given the opportunity to discuss abortion in front of Members of Parliament.
A few weeks ahead of the debate, an unknown source leaked the list of speakers arguing in favour of abortion to pro-life activist Simon Debono who went on to share the list to pro-life groups across Facebook. The speakers were subject to backlash and his efforts to discourage them from taking part in the debate worked as 18 speakers dropped out.
The debate was supposed to be held on fairgrounds, with 27 speakers arguing in favour of abortion and 30 arguing against. Some pro-lifers went as far as contacting the speaker’s parents in hopes they could talk their children out of participating in this debate.
Medical students dropped out in fear of being academically punished. Students were scared that their more conservative lecturers would find out they support the pro-choice movement and would deliberately fail them.
KNŻ condemned this type of behaviour and assured the public that members of the organisation had no knowledge that the list was going to be leaked or used to intimidate others to drop out of the debate.
KNŻ National Officer, Bradley Cachia, stated that the list of speakers was an internal document that all of the people who were going to present on the day had access to, not just members of the executive. The person behind the leak has yet to be identified.
Labour MP Randolph De Battista took to social media to express his outrage concerning the situation. He argued that people should not be publicly shamed for the opinion they have and that “this mentality needs to stop.”
Pro-choice groups have spoken, with Doctor’s for Choice Malta stating the following:
This is how patriarchy works: through intimidation and threats. Nobody should push themselves too hard, but every little bit of courage is a step towards ending oppression once and for all. We’ll win over patriarchy, no doubt about that.
The aim of the debate was to create a safe space where youths could talk about serious matters in a safe space, however it ended with speakers dropping out due to public harassment and fear of academic punishment.