Opposition to support gay conversion therapy criminalisation
The Opposition will be voting in favour of a bill that proposes to criminalise gay conversion therapy tomorrow, the Nationalist Party said this evening.
The bill proposes fines up to €10,000 and up to a year’s imprisonment for people carrying out such therapy.
The PN parliamentary group met to discuss the bill this evening ad decided to support it once it was moved for debate in Parliament
The party said it also discussed the matter in the party’s executive committee last night where a position against conversion therapy was also taken.
The PN said that the Labour government had not yet moved the bill for discussion within its parliamentary group, let alone discuss it internally.
A Church committee on Saturday published a paper on the proposed legislation criminalising the controversial therapy.
The paper concluded that the anti-gay-conversion Bill violated human rights because it afforded homosexuality superior status over heterosexuality.
It also argued that a ban on gay conversion therapy would violate a person’s right to receive treatment from a health professional.
Later, Archbishop Charles Scicluna said such therapy was a “no go” when it went against people's wishes.