Letters | Wednesday, 18 February 2009

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In another section of the press the French Ambassador to Malta Ms Daniel Rondeau heralded “the comeback of Europe”. After lamenting the loss “of Christian and Jewish roots” and a Europe “no longer in touch with its own identity” but “with a monstrous countenance”, he opined that “...the time has come for the Europe of self-seeking and egoism to make way for a Europe of brotherhood”. From a Europe “spurned and derided by the triumphs of nihilism” to “a Europe of youth and freshness.”
Rondeau also quoted former President of the Gzech Republic Vaclav Havel confiding in him that “Europe’s ambitions could not be reduced to those of a consumerisitc society and that one had always to be cautious and mistrust ‘the spirit of modernity and pretentiousness’”. Today the Czech Republic occupies the presidency of the European Union!
As if to console Rondeau, from Brussels came the news that members of the European Parliament have formed a new Human Dignity working group to promote the pro-life perspective on abortion and bioethics issues.
The group is being led by MEP Nirj Deva, a former candidate to succeed Kofi Annan as secretary general of the United Nations. He said this is needed “because we believe it is essential to the balance between the rights and responsibilities of the individual and the power of the state.”
Another MEP, Gay Mitchell, said that “by recalling that man’s rights are inalienable from his/her being, and not the product of legal charter, the Working Group will promote an important principle regarding human dignity.” He added: “Though abortion advocates suggest pro-life lawmakers are forcing their views on society, the desire to promote the pro-life agenda recognizes that the situation is currently in reverse in Europe.”
A recent resolution in the European Parliament has shown an impressive large section, about 300 MEP, probably support this initiative, with great potential to bring change in this regard. The five Maltese MEPs deserve credit for showing to the world they are on the side of the dignity of human life, as expected.
Some time ago the Malta Unborn Child Movement – MUCM – made suggestions to the European Commission, on its request to civil society organizations in all members states, on the proposed first EU Charter on the Rights of the Child. MUCM recommended introducing provisions in the charter which cater for the rights, protection and development of the unborn child. MUCM has an official document from the Director General Justice, Freedom and Security of the EU Commission congratulating it for its contribution. MUCM was told that its suggestions were to be also transmitted to the Director General Health and Consumer Protection as some of them concern matters related to public health
MUCM’s venture is aligned with the position of the Malta Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In a recent declaration on “current global issues” on the Ministry’s website (www.foreign.gov.mt -unborn child) in a section devoted solely to children, the Ministry declared that: “Malta will continue to actively support the protection of the basic human rights of children in the world particularly as laid out in the International Convention on the Rights of the child: the right to survival, to develop to the fullest, to protection from harmful influences, abuse and exploitation; and the right to participate fully in family, cultural and social life. Malta will continue to support international actions and policies that respect the rights of the unborn child and foster the best interests of children. In this context, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will seek a proactive engagement in the activities of UNICEF and other international bodies and initiatives dedicated to the welfare of children.”
Rondeau makes reference to “a few Europeans who decided to give their continent its face back after WWII and to their work on the old dream of the United States of Europe.” Today a united Europe is the experience of hundreds of millions of Europeans. One augurs that the dream of the new Human Dignity working group will be realized and that Malta would have helped, strategically, to bring this about.
The success of Malta’s first proposal, in 1967, to proclaim to the world the concept of the sea as the common heritage of mankind, and the second one, in 1988, in favour of climate change, show that Malta has the potential, and the will, to succeed in this one as well.

Tony Mifsud
Malta Unborn Child Movement

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