Muscat rebuffs attempts to kickstart abortion talks

A Council of Europe push for Malta to debate access to abortion has been firmly rebuffed by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat. COE Human Rights commissioner Nils Muiznieks had urged Dr Muscat to kick-start an “open and informed public debate on women’s access to abortion,” and to begin the process of decriminalising abortion, having said during a visit to Malta that he was “taken aback” by Malta’s “restrictive” stance on the issue. But in a reply dated January 8, Dr Muscat shot down the request, telling Mr Muižnieks  that “my Government neither has the political mandate to open a debate on access to abortion, nor the support of the public opinion on this matter”. Mr Muižnieks wrote his letter to Dr Muscat following a four-day visit to Malta held in November, during which he met with the Prime Minister, civil society members, key stakeholders and paid a visit to the Ħal Far open centre. Domestic violence In his letter, the COE commissioner urged the Maltese government to ensure that a domestic violence bill to be debated in parliament in the coming weeks gave victims adequate remedies while effectively sanctioning perpetrators. Mr Muižnieks urged Dr Muscat to allocate more money to...