Saturday, 27th June 2009
A pro-life message to all MEPs
Paul Vincenti, Gift of Life, Mosta
Last Tuesday, Gift of Life sent a letter to all five Maltese MEPs. Here is
what we wrote:
"Allow us to congratulate you on your recent election as an MEPs
representing Malta. Gift of Life is committed to working with all our MEPs
on all pro-life issues being discussed at a European level.
"We strongly believe that our MEPs have an important role to play not only
in defending our island's pro-life values but also in defending human life
from conception in any other country, whether within the EU or not.
"We have noted that on various occasions over the last five years, some
MEPs either abstained or did not vote in a pro-life manner on issues that
are of particular interest to our foundation and indeed to Maltese
citizens. Unlike in the last five years, we are now committed to informing
the public on the positive and negative voting performance of all our MEPs
in real time. This will include postings on our website and Facebook,
e-mails, press releases and letters as well as adverts in the local
papers, among others.
"We understand the challenges you face as a pro-life MEP in Europe and
appreciate the pressure that you may at times be under from other parties
and groups that are not pro-life. We wish to place the full resources of
our foundation and our associates at your disposal and assist you with any
information you may need to help you to vote positively on pro-life
matters.
"Should you be faced with any technical issues that you may need to debate
and vote on, such as, for example, issues like stem cell research and
cloning, we will be more than pleased to assist you in any way we can."
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Wednesday, 10th June 2009
Improved medical care, not abortion
Paul Vincenti, Gift of Life, Mosta
In the opinion piece by Robin Rebeiro of SOS Malta (June 5) the author
makes an interesting point about the need to protect women and human life
in general and especially in view of the Millennium Development Goal of
maternal health.
Helping women in such dire need, in so many parts of the world, is a just
cause. How can anyone disagree with the noble objective of saving women's
lives as laid out in EU-funded campaigns aimed at raising public awareness
on maternal health? Unfortunately, abortion is often promoted as one of
the solutions to lowering maternal mortality. Abortion is surreptitiously
presented under the vague description of sexual reproductive health and
reproductive health services.
For years the focus has been on legalising abortion in developing
countries and this is now set to increase with President Barack Obama's
commitment to make more funds available to promote worldwide abortion.
So the question that needs to be addressed becomes, does legalising
abortion actually protect women's' health? History shows that maternal
mortality declined substantially in countries such as the United States,
England and Wales through the 1930s and 1940s, for example, coinciding
with advancements in antibiotics such as penicillin and blood
transfusions.
A country that has managed to successfully reduce its maternal mortality
rate drastically in the last few years is the troubled island country of
Sri Lanka. As part of their strategy, they ensured that professional
midwives and supervisory nurse-midwives were widely available in rural
areas. This included making appropriate drugs and equipment accessible to
rural areas. The health authorities worked to improve communication,
transportation and back-up services. Yet, in Sri Lanka abortion is illegal
except to save the life of the mother.
Despite the International Conference on Population and Development in
Cairo and the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing held in 1995,
the United Nations Population Division claims that there has been no
substantial decrease in maternal mortality or child mortality in the
developing world since 1994. This is so notwithstanding the fact that in
this same period, women have had unprecedented access to legal abortion.
Scott Fischbach, the executive director of Minnesota Citizens Concerned
for Life, recently released a new brochure on maternal mortality at the
62nd World Health Assembly in Geneva. The argument put forward is that
"women generally are at risk because they lack access to a doctor,
hospital or antibiotics".
The drive to legalise abortion in Third World countries will undoubtedly
trigger a higher demand for abortion, as it has in most countries.
Naturally, this will result in even more injured women who then compete
for already scarce medical resources. As a result, the number of
abortion-related maternal deaths may actually increase.
If most maternal deaths can be targeted by better education, nutrition and
improved health care services which include improved obstetrics throughout
pregnancy and beyond, then why do so many international communities still
focus so much attention on legalising abortion?
It is a case of simple economics. A one-time medical procedure such as an
abortion is far less costly than the long-term health care costs of caring
for a mother throughout the nine months of her pregnancy and post-natal
care.
Pro-life groups are equally concerned with lowering maternal and child
mortality rates. The pro-life approach excludes the slaying of the unborn
as a solution as it equally rejects the concept that human life can be
lowered to a mere economic consideration.
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Volunteers required to help out at +9 Charity Shops
The +9 Charity Shops in Msida and B'Kara fund the HOPE Crisis Pregnancy Support service which over the past couple of years has supported many women, 21 babies born to date, and many others on the way.
Amongst its services, HOPE offers free information and support to pregnant women in crisis throughout the pregnancy and beyond, for as long as is necessary .
The +9 Charity shops also help fund PAIS, the Pro-Life Awareness in Schools programme , which annually equips teachers and students in local schools with pro-life learning and resources.
Gift of Life also offers help to women who may need support as a result of abortion.
The Gift of Life foundation is currently asking for help by pro-life individuals who are ready to commit to volunteering a minimum of one morning or afternoon of their time per week (shop hours) to help out in the Charity shops.
Interested persons (male or female) are invited to contact Claudia on 99297110.
E-mail:
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What does +9 mean?
We are generally nine months older than what we claim to be on our birthday. Use the +9 symbol to draw awareness to this. Today everyone in Malta knows what +9 means .It is now being used in other parts of globe also. It is a simple message that screams through all the semantics and lost values. Go here to view a +9 advert in Maltese, as seen on National TV in a recent campaign in Malta.
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