Life Network Foundation Malta has once again participated in this year’s Freshers’ Week held at the University of Malta.
Agenda Europe Summit 2016 Warsaw Poland
Dr. Miriam Sciberras and Ms. Mary Hilda Camilleri recently attended the Agenda Europe Summit in Warsaw Poland on the 26th September 2016 on behalf of Life Network Foundation Malta.
The Summit is an important pro-life, pro-family annual event bringing together more than 120 participants from 23 countries.
The summit discussed the intense local issues in view of the on-going human rights debate all over Europe. Life Network Foundation Malta is proud to be part of this debate and we are greatly encouraged by the pro-life pro family situation developing in Poland.
Top 10 Abortion Questions Hillary Clinton Wasn’t Asked at the Debate
During last night’s first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, debate moderator Lester Holt did not bring up the issue of abortion. Although the issue sparks a huge divide between the two candidates neither of them fielded any questions on the most important topics on the minds of the majority of American voters who are pro-life.
Through Laura’s Eyes: Abortion’s False Promise of Empowerment
For decades, legalized abortion has been slickly marketed, or “packaged,” by the feminist movement and the abortion industry as “empowerment” for women.
Medical Council believes morning after pill is only ‘tip of the iceberg’ in ethical issues
The Medical Council has told the Health Affairs Committee that the morning after pill is ‘just the tip of the iceberg’, as it expressed the concerns related to ethical, health and social issues.
Dr Doreen Cassar gave a detailed presentation before the committee which met this afternoon, explaining that the pill cannot be made available over the counter for a number of vital issues related, among other things, to health.
She explained that the pill will not work on persons of more than 77kg of weight. It can also have dangerous effects on people suffering from epilepsy or asthma.
“A doctor should always bear in mind the protection of human life, from conception till death,” Dr Cassar said before going into further detail. “We believe that the morning after pill is only the tip of the iceberg. There are major issues related to the medical history of the person requesting it. But we must go beyond the medical information.”
The Medical Council argued that it is vital for the pill giver to know the sexual history of the person. She noted that, statistics show an increase in sexually transmitted diseases. “We must ask ourselves, why didn’t the couple use any contraception? Why are they requesting the morning after pill? We must also ask if the person requesting the morning after pill came on his or her own accord, or because she or he was forced.”
The Council also insisted that the pill should be only prescribed by a medical doctor, otherwise there are serious issues one might face.
“There is also a psychological issue which one must analyse. Let’s see why these persons are not prepared to take care of a baby,” she added while saying that this pill can affect the health of the nation.
Quoting the medical schedule, Dr Cassar said that a doctor cannot prescribe something which will harm the mental and physical existence of the patient and that doctors cannot impose their views on patients.
Insisting that the morning after pill should not be given over the counter, Dr Cassar asked “if a male comes to buy the pill, who are we protecting? The child or the parents?”
Labour Party MP Etienne Grech said he agreed that the morning after pill should be given through prescription.
Finally, she concluded by calling on politicians that, since there is an element of uncertainty, they should see to “err in the side of caution”.
The report on the morning after pill will be tabled in Parliament on 10 October when Parliament resumes. Committee adjourns for Wednesday 5 October.
Thousands of People Flood the Streets of Berlin for the March for Life to Protest Abortion
Thousands of pro-lifers marched in Germany on Saturday to call for an end to abortion.
The Catholic News Agency reports about 7,500 pro-lifers participated in the German March for Life in Berlin. About 1,500 pro-abortion advocates staged a counter-protest during the march, according to local police reports.
Abducted and aborted by Tony Mifsud
In his article entitled ‘United to protect children’ (August 6), Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela wrote: “When it comes to the well-being of our children, this is a topic that unites us all.” Yes, we are united on this.
He added: “I am part of a government which attaches great importance to protecting the best interests of children. When we hear of children being reported missing or, worse still, abducted, we are rightly alarmed. Each year in the EU, about 250,000 children are reported abducted or missing.”
Here we have to add: including some 300 unborn children from Malta, abducted and subsequently aborted beyond Maltese shores.
Abela also said: “Compared to other countries, Malta’s numbers are small, but that should not stop us from strengthening and improving the systems already in place.” There is widespread agreement on this in Malta.
Abela really put his finger on it the right thing when he said “ensuring children’s well-being and protection from harm will always be an intrinsic part of the Maltese people’s core values”.
We should add “…and we should do what it takes to keep it that way.”.
Then he gave some very grim statistics, like that international statistics show that 76 per cent of children are killed within three hours of abduction.
In 2013, at the Pro-Life Day manifestation in favour of life organised by the Malta Unborn Child Movement (MUCM) in Valletta, Abela, as representative of the Labour Party declared: “Abortion is illegal and that is how it should remain – it is nothing less than murder.”
He had also declared that “parents were obliged to do their utmost and protect their offspring from the moment of conception… Society and the State were also in duty bound to support mothers during their pregnancies and help them provide a good quality of life to their newborns”.
Last year, it was reported that government backbencher Deo Debattista had urged the government to set up a ‘pro-life’ clinic to help expectant mothers thinking of aborting their unborn children. This newspaper also quoted Rebecca Gomperts, the Dutch provider of abortions on the high seas, as having said that about 300 expectant Maltese mothers aborted every year.
Very small Maltese unborn children, who have a legal status according to a number of Maltese laws, are being abducted out of Malta to be aborted… very sadly we have to add, by their parents… in UK and elsewhere.
What we don’t know, so far, is if the body parts, the tiny baby hearts, lungs and brains of aborted Maltese children are being callously harvested and sold, that is trafficked for profit, to university and company laboratories like Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion business in the US.
What we don’t know, so far, is if the body parts, the tiny baby hearts, lungs and brains of aborted Maltese children are being callously harvested and sold
The government and civil society should unite even further in their resolve to protect also the lives of these 300 unborn childen.
The way forward has been charted already by Deo Debattista. The government should help in as many ways as possible a number of voluntary organisations already working in this field, to reach out to these women and offer them further compassionate, counselling and advisory services, to help them spare the lives of their unborn children.
Labour MP Etienne Grech, chairperson of the Health Committee of Parliament seems to have other views. He said it was his belief that there can be no life without brain activity, quoting JM Rollingring’s theory that : “The brain is the only unique and irreplaceable organ in the human body, as the orchestrator of all organ systems and the seat of personality.”
For him, it appears, human life does not begin at conception.
Grech should take note of a very significant statement made by a bioethics expert Pierre Mallia in July: “It is a fact that life does begin at fertilisation… and that science is not absolute, as many make it out to be.”
He also said that “ resorting to so-called scientific advice that many base their arguments on can also be tantamount to deception if you choose the arguments that suit you.”
Yes, the well-being of all our children, from conception, unites us all. This is reflected in the fact that, so far, all four Maltese political parties declare that they are pro-life. This is something which does not exist in any other country in the world.
This has been demonstrated in Malta every year, in February, for the last 10 years when the MUCM organised Pro-Life Days which included the active participation, and pro-life speeches, of political parties and even the President.
Our supreme aim should be to keep it that way and to continue “to be proud to be the best in Europe” and the world, not only, as the Prime Minister said, “in having the lowest unemployment in the eurozone and a declining poverty rate” but also in protecting all Maltese and other children living in Malta “from conception”, as our laws state so explicitly…until the end of life.
That includes not legalising the morning-after pill when there is still a lot of doubt, scientifically, if it is abortifacient or not, notwithstanding the fact that the chairperson of the Medicines Authority is advising the authorities differently.
It also includes not going for widespread embryo freezing in connection with IVF when it is very likely that in the process unborn children, still in the embryonic stage, can be killed accidentally, or negligently.
Tony Mifsud is coordinator, Malta Unborn Child Movement
Ref: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20160917/opinion/Abducted-and-aborted.625236
From treasure to trash by Prof. Patrick Pullicino
Men are more likely than women to seek pleasure from sexuality and so women have traditionally been sexual gatekeepers for men. In the past, the potential need to care for a dependent child had a tempering effect on women’s behaviour.
That any child, once conceived, should be treasured and nurtured for life was never in question. This delicate balance also served to select men who were motivated by love and would honour a lifetime commitment to marriage.
The first downward step was oral contraception. Those who opted to go on the pill were able to dramatically lower the ‘risk’ of having to nurture a child for life. Once the unpredictability of conception was removed, ‘gatekeeping’ was not so necessary. Procreation was no longer inherent in sexual relations and women started to become more opportunistic in their sexual behaviour.
Children were now displaced from the centre of a woman’s ‘love-life’ as their birth could now be avoided.
The pill was not completely reliable however and those who did not take it regularly still ran the risk of pregnancy with sexual intercourse. The resourcefulness of the pharmaceutical industry then produced the morning-after pill (MAP) which has a 98 per cent ability to prevent pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of intercourse.
Abortion has crept into many societies on the back of contraception and the MAP will surely accelerate its acceptance
The pill was deceptively marketed as ‘emergency contraception’ to try and obscure its abortive effects on any conception that had already occurred. It could equally have been called ‘emergency abortion’ however, as it is not difficult to see, that since most successful conceptions occur within the time period of action of the MAP, much of its effect has to be due to a loss of the fertilised ovum.
This is abortion. With the MAP, the woman’s defence against pregnancy is taken to a second level. In this ‘emergency’ use of the MAP the woman has to accept that abortion may occur. At least subconsciously, she assents to take a potentially lethal step against the life of a child. The MAP therefore further devalues the lives of children in a society that legalises the MAP, in an incremental downward step over the contraceptive pill.
The third and final step which is inevitable once the life of a child is made disposable by allowing the MAP is abortion.
Abortion is extended to situations that do not fulfil the arbitrary designation of ‘emergency’. Once a society is sufficiently desensitised to the evil of killing the most vulnerable expression of its newest members, the door is open to abortion of confirmed pregnancies.
Abortion has crept into many societies on the back of contraception and the MAP will surely accelerate its acceptance. What was treasure will sadly end up as trash.
The Maltese have always treasured children. Children are a deep source of love in the community. Some groups are portraying the MAP as necessary to societal progress, for a woman to control her own body regardless of any potential life she is carrying.
Is it progress for a woman to be empowered to destroy what she should be nurturing with all her heart? The MAP is lethal for life at its most vulnerable and, if accepted, will deeply damage not only children, but women and the unique love the Maltese have for children.
Prof. Patrick Pullicino is a neurologist.
Ref: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20160909/opinion/From-treasure-to-trash.624469
Brexit: Europe in jeopardy by Dr. Klaus Vella Bardon
The referendum on Brexit has been a severe blow to European unity. This development will have a far-reaching negative impact on both Britain and the rest of Europe.
Although, for once, the British had the opportunity to vote in a clear manner, where every vote counted, almost 30 per cent did not vote on such a crucial issue. The result was an indictment of a political class that believes that it knows it all and treats the electorate patronisingly.
The immigrant crisis, which is spiralling out of control, was exploited to the hilt by the anti-EU politicians and activists, who in their campaign proved even more dishonest than their opponents.
The Brexit result should be a wake-up call for all Europeans, especially those who claim to have Christian values.
For too long, the political and social development of a united Europe has been reduced to economic rationality. The Christian philosophy of social democracy has been dented, and the core values that inspired men like Alcide De Gasperi, Robert Schuman and Konrad Adenauer have long been given only lip service.
Lobbying should be declared and open, so that people are able to judge what is at stake
Such people, who really passionately believed in a united Europe, were those who came through World War II and believed in a democracy based on solidarity and subsidiarity. Such men of principle no longer exist. It is now mostly a matter of short-sighted, short-term, political and financial advantage.
Yet the rot in Europe runs deeper. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, this year’s recipient of the prestigious Templeton Prize, pins it down. Sacks did not mince words. Our civilisation is in imminent peril, despite all the advantages and comforts that modern technology has bestowed. He mentions four crippling flaws.
Firstly, we are addicted to debt. This is portrayed in the fiscal irresponsibility abetted and exploited by the financial world. Secondly, the breakdown of the family unit. This has been accelerated by easy divorce and the virulent gender ideology that has led to the virtual destruction of the concept of the traditional family.
Thirdly, the growing gap between the super-rich and the rest. Finally, the demise of the West is the result of an intractable demographic crisis in which the current generation rejects the responsibility of child-rearing.
These four realities are all interlinked and a consequence of the abandonment of Europe’s Christian identity, reflected now by an unrepresentative, bloated bureaucracy where policies are often determined by underhand lobbying.
A prime example can be seen in the series of trade negotiations being carried out, mostly in secret, between the EU and the US by the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. It has been branded an assault on European and US societies by transnational corporations.
The spectre of lobbying in the EU is hardly referred to in the local media. Yet in Leħen Is-Sewwa (July 24), Dun Anġ Seychell, quoting a local paper, pointed out that despite the EU managing, after much effort, to force lobbies and their budgets to be registered, two countries refused to publish this information – Britain and Malta.
Instead of engaging with the EU to improve its performance, Britain chose to block transparency on such a vital issue. So much for blaming the EU for all its ills. It is the political class at the national level that bears the blame for corrupting wholesome political development in Europe.
These lobbyists are not just covering business interests. There are also pressure groups, such as LBGT groups, that conceal their role and funding. Such behaviour is the antithesis of sound democracy. Lobbying should be declared and open, so that people are able to judge what is at stake.
A further example of the abuse of political clout is the pressure in the EU by powerful interests such as that of billionaire George Soros, one of the US’s richest men, who uses funds to destabilise the current, democratic, pro-Catholic government in Poland and now also aims to fund groups fighting Ireland’s restrictive law on abortion.
Meanwhile, in Malta, the government continues to undermine the family and promote laws that threaten the sacredness of life.
Christians are expected to involve themselves in the political arena and fight these negative developments. Otherwise, Europe has no future.
Dr. Klaus Vella Bardon is vice-chairman of Life Network Foundation Malta.
Ref: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20160907/opinion/Brexit-Europe-in-jeopardy.624291
Science, truth and goodness by Peter Cassar Torreggiani
Science and technology could help advance man’s future in truth and goodness, but the opposite can also happen if professionals don’t really care about right and wrong. So would it do good to use Parliament to facilitate the use of pills that can undermine the processes of childbirth in the name of love?
Wouldn’t this be dangerous for democracy, as when citizens are corrupt they do harm to one other in a widespread fashion? Even if it’s true that the facts at the beginning of human life are not so clearly discernable, nonetheless what goes on beforehand indicates the life of virtue.
For instance, in prostitution a third factor in the person of a pimp is often involved even if not immediately apparent. Are the science and technology of the big pharmaceutical companies taking over the role of the pimp through the provision of pills, altering the natural biological process of the interaction of male and female bodies? Is this that dangerous combination of sex and violence?
Good governance prefers to promote the life of virtue, where peace and prosperity reign through the agreement of wills. Indeed it is this global civilisation of love towards which Malta should be inclining the soul of Europe. For what is really to be discovered in the cultural contrasts of moral relativity is the truth about personal relationality, whether it be about money and power or sexual intimacy.
Albeit being so miniscule an island, yet our true happiness as humans can help seek out the latent joy of true love in choices being made in respect of another’s body.
Through this element of sublime relationality, what is to be discovered is true interpersonal communion in its infinite intimacy, where time, space, and attendant emotions can indeed take life into a different dimension of existence, albeit fleetingly.
Ref: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20160904/letters/Science-truth-and-goodness.623981