mr president today we have just voted on the situation of fundamental rights in the european union
it is with great regret that together with my two maltese colleagues in the pse group we have had to abstain from voting on the report
although the report refers to numerous issues of fundamental human rights which are laudable it includes other issues such as abortion which should never have been included in this report
as the maltese social representatives in the european parliament are against abortion we have had to vote against these particular parts of the report
there are indeed other issues included in this report such as living wills and the right to dignity at the end of life which are sensitive issues regarding which we have had to abstain
that is why we abstained at the end of this vote
i would like to thank you for this opportunity
