Damon Bossino's Abortion Referendum Statement
A statement by Damon Bossino follows below:
I intend to vote NO in the abortion referendum on Thursday.
The changes that are being proposed to the Crimes Act are too wide and represent a significant and unwelcome change to the current law.
The Chief Minister has waded in to the debate with the full force of the office he now holds behind him and I ask you not to be swayed by that. I ask you to look at the facts.
In this connection I need to tell you that various things have been said by the Chief Minister which are not correct and which cannot be left unanswered.
Firstly, he said, in very emphatic terms, that it is ‘absolutely not true’ to say that the proposed new law would permit people to have an abortion up to nine months. This is nothing other than a ploy aimed to confuse. It is very obviously the case that the new law not only allows abortions up to nine months but it, also, extends the circumstances in which they may be done.
Secondly, he said that the new law restricts abortions to 12 weeks. All I can think is that this is an attempt to make you believe that that this law is more restrictive than what there is now. This is clearly not true. In an exercise of convoluted mental gymnastics, he seems to want to win favour with ‘No’ voters as well as ‘Yes’ voters – and sadly there are no surprises there!
The undeniable fact is that the new law does not restrict abortions to 12 weeks in certain circumstances.
All of the detail has been very ably explained by the statement issued by the ‘Lawyers for No’ campaign group issued today and which I urge you to read.
I ask you to consider how a group of such eminent lawyers, have supposedly got it so wrong, most especially, when the group comprises so very many senior lawyers including 6 QCs – one of whom is Sir Peter Caruana on whom the Chief Minister periodically relies upon for advice – and whom clearly, firmly and collectively challenge what the Chief Minister has said. They have not got it wrong. The Chief Minster has got it wrong.
Thirdly, rather bizarrely and in a new twist, the Chief Minister has said that the new law is identical to the current law. If so, and as Keith Azopardi has suggested - why has he subjected all of us to this divisive and stressful process? What was the point? It has proven to be an issue, which has ripped up our society. The Chief Minister’s statement is just not worthy of further consideration.
The Deputy Chief Minister asks you to ‘strip away the emotion’ from the debate. How can you do so when you are dealing with such an emotionally charged debate which centres on the life of unborn children, women and families?
The undeniable fact remains that the new proposed law permits abortion throughout the full nine months of pregnancy and will allow abortion in broad circumstances up until 12 weeks.
I ask you to consider what it is that we are doing on Thursday. The question is not “I’m for abortion” or “I’m against abortion”, the question is - do you want this law to become our law or do you want to send the politicians a loud and clear message that this law has gone too far – that we need to re-think things and go back to the drawing board.
I also ask you to consider the wider implications of a ‘Yes’ result. You have heard the argument that the permitting of abortions changes cultural and societal attitudes. If the referendum passes, it is said that we will experience a significant change in Gibraltar as to how we value unborn children and the kind of support we offer their mothers.
With an emphatic ‘No’ vote we will be sending a loud and clear message that we in Gibraltar wish to maintain and encourage the promotion of these values rather than subject them to a process of erosion over time.
The experience in other countries provides a window into what our own future will look like should we say ‘yes’ to this law.
The 1967 Abortion Act in Britain is proof of this. I am told that 210,000 unborn human lives were lost in England and Wales in 2020 alone.
We don’t believe this is the Gibraltar our citizens want. Gibraltar is a place of support and compassion and we must define ourselves by that those standards. Gibraltar has this quality in abundance, of that I have no doubt.
We must stand up for the vulnerable in our society and renew our commitment to supporting women and girls in Gibraltar.
We look out for each other and we must continue to do so. It is my strongly held view that we must do more to positively support women in unplanned pregnancies; new mothers; and vulnerable families. That is where all our efforts and focus should be. That is what brings about positive and long-lasting change.
We just have a couple of days left to make a decision that will affect us, our children and our grandchildren for generations to come and I urge you to chose wisely and vote No on Thursday.
