Raphael Vassallo
The Maltese electorate appears to have finally given the middle finger to the Gift of Life Foundation: electing John Attard Montalto (PL) to the European Parliament, in spite of the pro life lobby’s repeated warnings on his voting record on abortion-related issues; and also giving more than 6,000 first count votes to Sharon Ellul Bonici, a Labour candidate targeted specifically for her allegedly pro choice views.
Attard Montalto first raised Gift of Life’s ire by voting in favour of a number of resolutions and amendments linked with abortion over the past five years.
These include Amendment 8 to the Coveney report, which called on the European Union to ensure that both abortion and post-exposure prophylaxis (the morning-after pill) are immediately made available rape victims in conflict zones such as Bosnia and Darfur.
Commenting on this issue, Gift of Life CEO Paul Vincenti wrote: “Pregnancies resulting from rape test the convictions of even the most dedicated pro-lifers. Indeed, most recently, a Maltese MEP, Dr John Attard Montalto, voted in Europe, in favour of abortion in cases of rape in war zones.”
Elsewhere, Attard Montalto features prominently in Gift of Life’s online list of Maltese MEPs and how they voted in favour of resolutions connected with women’s reproductive rights.
But despite repeated efforts to link the Labour MEP with abortion issues, John Attard Montalto managed to get over 13,000 first count votes, and inherited the same amount again to get elected at the last count.
Similarly, former ‘No2EU’ campaigner Sharon Ellul Bonici was targeted by a sustained negative campaign by Gift of Life, largely on account of comments she posted on a pro choice Facebook group.
Gift of Life accused Ellul Bonici of trying to legalise abortion in Malta: “Ellul Bonici joined a public Facebook group set up to give a voice to those who are pro-choice for abortion in Malta,” Vincenti wrote on the lobby group’s website. “Among other references against the proposed right to life Constitutional amendment, she wrote: “The state should not constrain a woman from terminating her pregnancy.’”
Vincenti even held a meeting with PL leader Joseph Muscat to have her expelled from the party list of candidates.
In the end Ellul Bonici failed to get elected to the European Parliament, but her respectable first-count tally of over 6,000 votes appears to suggest that once again, the abortion smear campaign failed to leave the desired effect – just as it had roundly backfired in the case of Green party candidate Arnold Cassola in 2004.
Evidently, pro-life issues are far, far away from the Maltese electorate’s mind, when it comes to choosing representatives for the European Parliament.
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