The prime minister on Tuesday accused the Nationalist Party of scaremongering while insisting that a bill on the termination of pregnancies would only be used in a handful of cases where women were in the most critical health condition. "Those who will use it won't be in their hundreds, not even in their twenties, but only a few (waħdiet) and in very particular circumstances," he told MPs during the debate in parliament. "And even if there are just one, two or three women who make use of the new law, we have a duty to protect them." He urged MPs to raise the debate above petty politics and treat the "sensitive subject" with maturity - to put themselves in the shoes of the women and doctors who are forced to take tough decisions when the mother's health is in clear danger. He referred to the case of Andrea Prudente, saying that despite the fact that the pregnancy was unviable, Maltese doctors could not treat the woman for fear that their intervention could terminate the pregnancy and make them liable to criminal action and imprisonment. Fortunately, that story ended well, but it could have been a tragedy, he said. The government’s proposed amendment, he said, would free...
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