L-intolleranza fostna

Matul din il-ġimgħa, għal darba oħra, kellna inċidenti li juru li l-intolleranza fostna, mhux biss għadha ħajja, imma għandha għeruq fondi.

Nhar it-Tnejn Rebecca Buttiġieġ, Segretarju Parlamentari, u Randolph Debattista, Membru Parlamentari, fil-Parlament, tkellmu dwar ittri anonimi li irċevew, u li kienu mimlijin insulti kontra tagħhom. Dan wara li huma esprimew l-opinjonijiet politiċi tagħhom pubblikament fil-kuntest tad-dibattitu pubbliku li għaddej preżentement dwar l-abort.

Din il-ġimgħa ukoll, id-dentista Miriam Sciberras ilmentat li ġie vvandalizzat il-bieb tal-klinika tagħha f’Ħaż-Żabbar. Id-dentista Sciberras hi persuna pubblika u permezz tal-NGO Life Network Foundation tmexxi l-quddiem argumenti kontra l-abort.

Dawn huma l-aħħar eżempji mingħand is-soċjetà intolleranti li qed ngħixu fiha. Bħalhom hemm eżempji oħra, li niffaċċjaw kuljum, u dan fil-konfront ta’ firxa wiesa’ ta’ persuni, kemm persuni pubbliċi kif ukoll persuni privati. Dwar uħud minn dawn il-każijiet smajna u qrajna tul il-ġimgħat u x-xhur li għaddew. Oħrajn isofru fis-skiet. Xhieda dan ta’ soċjetà li hi marida.

Fuq il-media soċjali, sfortunatament, dan qed jiġri l-ħin kollu.

Mhux kulħadd hu responsabbli biżżejjed biex jifhem li l-libertà li tesprimi ruħek fuq il-media soċjali, u band’oħra ukoll, hemm marbuta magħha l-obbligu li tqis dak li tgħid u li tassigura ruħek li ma tkunx insolenti jew offensiv fi kliemek. Mhux kulħadd, sfortunatament, kapaċi jagħmel argument mingħajr ma jkun insolenti jew offensiv.

Għandna l-obbligu li nirrispettaw lil xulxin dejjem. Ma hemm ħtieġa tal-ebda sforz biex nirrispettaw lil min jaqbel magħna! Id-diffikulta, għal uħud, hi meta huma jkunu ffaċċjati minn opinjoni differenti li ma jaqblux magħha u li tikkuntrasta ħafna ma dak li jemmnu jew jafu huma. Uħud għand jeħtieġ jitgħallmu li l-kritika tista’ issir mingħajr ma tinsulta lil ħadd. L-opinjonijiet li jikkuntrastaw, jekk isiru sewwa, jistgħu jagħtu kontribut għat-tisħiħ tad-dibattitu pubbliku u tal-proċess demokatiku fil-pajjiż.

Hu obbligu li nesprimu ruħna u li nipparteċipaw fid-diskussjoni pubblika. Imma huwa daqstant ieħor obbligu li nesprimu ruħna b’mod li nkunu kemm ċari kif ukoll rispettużi ta’ min ikun qed jisma’, jsegwi  jew jaqra dak li nkunu qed ngħidu.

Ir-retorika esaġerata ta’ uħud flimkien ma’ diskorsi li jappellaw għall-emozzjoni u mhux għar-raġuni għandhom dan l-effett li hu wieħed previdibbli. Jirnexxiehom joħorġu fil-beraħ l-intolleranza, xi drabi moħbija, imma li tul is-snin għamlet ħafna ħsara lit-tessut soċjali u demokratiku tal-pajjiż.

Kien hemm mumenti meta anke jiena laqqattha. Ħafna drabi ninjora l-insulti u nħassar il-kummenti dispreġġjattivi fuq il-media soċjali u niġdem ilsieni. Kummenti li xi drabi jkunu miktuba minn persuni li jridu jikkummentaw u m’għandhomx il-ħila li jagħmlu dan mingħajr ma jesprimu mibgħeda u intolleranza grassa. Kien hemm okkazjoni ukoll, din is-sena, fejn irrappurtajna persuna lill-Pulizija u dan ġie immultat u mwissi severament mill-Maġistrat wara li hu ġie mtella’ l-Qorti, ammetta u skuża ruħu. Bħali għamlu diversi oħrajn. Sfortunatament, imma, l-intolleranza għandha għeruq fondi fostna u dawn l-inċidenti jibqgħu jirrepetu ruħhom sakemm jibqgħu jsibu lil min irewwaħ.

L-intolleranza hi dipendenti fuq l-attitudi li inpinġu kollox bħala abjad jew iswed. Min mhux magħna kontra tagħna, jgħidu. Inkella fuq l-attitudni li aħna biss għandna raġun u li l-bqija kulħadd huwa żbaljat u li jeħtieġ li jara d-dawl u li jikkonverti! L-intolleranza individwali sfortunatament hi rifless ta’ soċjetà intolleranti li ntgħaġnet hekk tul is-snin.

Nifhem li mhux dejjem faċli għax kultant hu iktar popolari li tmaqdar u tkasbar lil min ma jaqbilx miegħek. Jeħtieġ sforz biex nimxu kontra dan il-kurrent qalil li jgħix minn fuq il-preġudizzju u l-misinformazzjoni.

Hu sforz li irridu nagħmlu kuljum. B’hekk biss innaqqsu l-impatti tal-intolleranza fostna. Inutli nilmentaw jekk ma nagħmlux il-parti tagħna.

ippubblikat fuq Illum: il-Ħadd 25 ta’ Dicembru 2022

Supporting Bill 28

The amendment to the Criminal Code forming part of Bill 28 which Parliament started discussing on Monday 28 November codifies the existing practice at the state hospital. It defines the necessary legal framework for therapeutic abortion. It does not introduce the practice of therapeutic abortion: this has been the practice for quite some time.

The Bill avoids use of the term “abortion”, using instead the term “termination of a pregnancy”, which as we are all aware has exactly the same meaning!

Legislation to date relative to therapeutic abortion is not clear at this point in time. On this basis ADPD-The Green Party was the only political party which tackled the matter during the March 2022 electoral campaign, including a whole section on sexual health and reproductive rights in the electoral manifesto. We went much further than that, emphasising the need for the decriminalisation of abortion too.

The Labour Party in Government, which has been practically silent on the matter during the electoral campaign, has now decided to act, taking a minimalist approach. It has limited itself to ensuring that current practice is protected at law. While this is definitely not enough it is a welcome first step and deserves our full support, even though there is still room for improvement in the proposed text of the proposal.

The Labour Party is right in saying that it is not introducing abortion through Bill 28: therapeutic abortion has been here and practised for some time even in the state hospital. Consequently, the approval of Bill 28 as presented will, in practice, not change anything, it will merely recognise the current state of affairs. As a result, it will give peace of mind to medical practitioners in state hospitals as their current modus operandi would be clearly spelt out in the law, as it should be.

In a sense the current fierce and at times emotional debate on abortion is much ado about nothing. It has however resulted in the local conservative forces speaking from the same hymn book. The opposition to the Bill is primarily twofold. On one hand there is the PN official stand which, together with Archbishop Scicluna has adopted the position paper published by a group of academics. In practice they seek to limit permissible medical interventions to cases of a threat to the life of the pregnant woman, eliminating health issues as justification. On the other hand, exponents of the fundamentalist Christian right, including a minority in the PN rank and file oppose the Bill in principle.

Put simply, the debate identifies three different proposals. The first, proposed by the Labour government in Bill 28, enshrines in law the current practice and places the onus on the medical profession to decide each case on its own merits. The second, supported by the PN opposition and the Church hierarchy seeks to substantially limit the discretion of the medical profession in Bill 28 primarily by eliminating health and mental health considerations. The third position brought forward by the fundamentalist Christian faction is in total opposition to all that is being proposed.

During the Parliamentary debate held this week I took note of the various positive contributions, in particular those of Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne, Parliamentary Secretary Rebecca Buttigieg and Opposition spokespersons Joe Giglio and Mario Demarco. Of particular note, in my view, is Fearne’s reference to the hospital’s standard operating procedures. It is being emphasised that these procedures do in fact address important aspects of the criticism aired during the debate, in particular that decisions taken by the medical profession relative to therapeutic abortion procedures should be taken by two or more professionals in order to ensure that no professional shoulders the decision alone. This, I understand is already standard practice!

There is always room for improvement in the proposed text of the Bill as indicated in the level-headed approach of Joe Giglio during the Parliamentary debate on Wednesday. As I emphasised in my article last week it would have been much better if Government had embarked on an exercise of public consultation before presenting the Bill. There would definitely have been more time to listen to and digest the different views. A valid point which was also emphasised by Mario Demarco.

In this scenario, even though viewing it as just a first step, which can be improved: without any shadow of doubt, ADPD supports the proposal put forward by Bill 28 in principle.

published in The Malta Independent on Sunday: 4 December 2022