Comments on: People who keep their options open

By: Corinne Vella

Corinne Vella — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 07:48:03 +0000

Simon: The dual candidacy appears inconsistent and illogical even before you get into the political positions Arnold Cassola takes up in the respective countries. Moving from the national election of one country to another is unlike moving from the local council election of one village to another. The former involves switching loyalties, the latter does not. Several people here in Malta have failed to see that.

which is why

By: jags

jags — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 07:15:38 +0000

with or without the amendment in the constitution, how many Maltese have had abortions abroad ? Will this number continue to increase now that we have freer access to Europe ? Now that teenagers travelling alone or with friends is no longer a big deal ?

Get real Malta ! We can change the constitution a million times, but we will never stop Maltese resorting to having an abortion – provided they have sufficient cash to get themselves as far as Sicily !

If we do change the constitution, the only purpose this will serve is to permanently label Malta as the church’s lap dog !

I do not like abortion, and have heard the murder theories, women’s rights arguments ad naseum now. On the other hand, when the rest of the civilised world (the part of the world we constantly crave to be associated with) seem to have adopted and learnt to live with abortion – sometimes with specific conditions – why should we be different ?

By: Phaedra Giuliani

Phaedra Giuliani — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 07:03:29 +0000

[Moderator – I think it’s to build on Tonio Borg’s family-friendly policy of allowing breadwinners to blow themselves up and taking the neighbours with them, in order to produce fireworks for a family-friendly feast organised by a family-friendly priest.]

Dear Moderator,
That’s a classic sweeping statement if ever I saw one.

[Moderator – And yet it is reality.]

By: David Buttigieg

David Buttigieg — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 01:05:18 +0000

By the way, is this becoming an abortion debate?

[Moderator – Please do not take it in that direction – even the sun is beginning to groan at the prospect.]

By: David Buttigieg

David Buttigieg — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 01:03:13 +0000

Well Joseph Micallef,

I don’t think we are talking about abortion because the pregnancy is a nuisance, I think the real moral dilemma is when pregnancy is a real problem like in cases of rape and incest. That is when the really difficult questions arise and there is no easy answer.

Would abortion be justified then. Personally I still think no!

Having said that I was never in that kind of terrible situation (Well it would be kind of hard for me to be pregnant but you get my drift). Would I change my mind if so? I would like to say no but frankly I just don’t know.

Daphne,
I agree it’s a decades old argument but it is practically the only argument. If all agree it is not murder then there is nothing left to debate.

Moderator – I wouldn’t expect a change in the constitution to be a picnic but at least it should guarantee some serious debate and discussion. After all, one way or the other abortion is a very serious matter.
I would like to think that it is not treated as buying a shirt from next!

By: Daphne Caruana Galizia

Daphne Caruana Galizia — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 00:37:26 +0000

@Amrio – amendments to the Constitution require the vote of two-thirds of MPs, which means they cannot be made without the cooperation of the government and the opposition. If Tonio Borg, then Justice Minister, and Gift of Life had managed to push this amendment through (they were pursuing MPs with a petition as a start), abortion would have been banned in Malta on a permanent basis, or at least until the government and opposition could next cooperate on removing the offending article from the Constitution. Tonio Borg and Gift of Life are not happy with the simple banning of abortion under the Criminal Code (which makes it a crime), because the Criminal Code is legislation, and legislation can be amended by a simple majority of legislators (one MP more than ‘the others’). This means that the government doesn’t need the opposition to decriminalise abortion. Those of us who oppose Tonio Borg’s and Gift of Life’s aims argue that this generation has no right to dictate to the generations yet unborn, who may have very different views about abortion. There may even be different views about the definition of the beginning of life, which is already hotly debated.

By: amrio

amrio — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 00:34:16 +0000

Moderator

You too are still awake at this ghastly hour? Suggestion: Listen to Pink Floyd’s ‘Obscured By Clouds’ as I’m doing, while going thru this site – it makes one mind much clearer and calmer….

So in your opinion, unborn baby-killers and mad festa guys should be put on the same scales of justice? Hmmm… nice way of putting things together… and to be fair, I tend to agree with you… using the same measure, therefore, the same goes with drunk-drivers, employees who don’t give a toss about their employees’ health and safety…. the list would grow…

And if we continue with Gift of Life’s arguments then, we will end up with the world’s weirdest constitution…..

By: amrio

amrio — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 00:16:12 +0000

Since you are mentioning this, you have to bear with me a sec, ’cause I was always confused about this.

To put the record straight I am against abortion. Having said that, I’m puzzled on what these Gift of Life want to achieve. Is abortion in Malta not equated with murder? So what is the need of a constitutional amendment? To make any future effort to introduce abortion more difficult?

By: Daphne Caruana Galizia

Daphne Caruana Galizia — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 00:13:55 +0000

@David Buttigieg and Joseph Micallef: please let’s not re-open the hackneyed decades-old debate about whether abortion is murder (a debate that is almost entirely dominated by men). Yes, I agree that an objection to abortion is not dependent on espousing the Catholic religion, which is why I wouldn’t have an abortion myself even though I am not a Catholic. But the fact remains that abortion is banned only in countries where the Catholic Church and Islam have strong control. This is not a coincidence, but a direct correlation.

By: Simon

Simon — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 21:59:18 +0000

The Maltese Arnold Cassola targets the centre right and moderate votes (i.e. Nationalist votes), while the Italian Arnold Cassola is a candidate of ‘La Sinistra l’Arcobaleno (LSA)’, which places itself on the extreme left fringes of Italian politics.

Those of you familiar with Italian politics, would know that LSA includes extreme elements*, and partly for this reason, they have not been included in the centre left coalition led by Walter Veltroni. In fact LSA is located much more to the left of the new PD (which includes certain factions of the old Communist Party). In fact Walter Veltroni, the leader of the new democratic party (PD), was also a member of the old communist party, PCI.. The centre left coalition excluded any link whatsoever with LSA, of which Cassola is a candidate, due to its violent elements and extreme policies which do not make sense anymore in today’s post Soviet Union economic realties.

I wonder whether I am the only one who thinks that this dual candidacy of Cassola is illogical and inconsistent. Malta and Italy are two different countries but they are not two different realities.

* elements renowned for creating havoc in protests, constantly burning US and Israeli flags, praising the kamikazes in Palestine and Iraq etc etc.