Desperate struggle against abortion ban
Malta has one of the strictest abortion laws in the EU. The ruling Labour Party wants to loosen the law a bit, but the procedure is dragging on. The case of a tourist reinforces the debate.
Anonymity for women seeking abortion
Maria is sitting in a doctor’s treatment room somewhere in Malta. Maria is not her real name, she must remain anonymous. She just wants to talk to her gynecologist in a protected environment. Because Maria became pregnant two years ago – unwillingly. That’s why she immediately thought about abortion.
“I was afraid that the police would request my credit card data because these pills were paid for online with a credit card. I was afraid of being discovered this way. I was afraid that they would track my IP address while I was Googling ‘abortion in Malta’ and find out that I was looking for these things.”
Severe punishment for abortion
Maria was so scared because abortion is illegal in her home country. Women face up to three years in prison. But the 25-year-old at the time saw no other way.
She ordered abortion pills over the internet. Mifepristone and misoprostol are the active ingredients that terminate pregnancy medically at home, without supervision. But Maria would have preferred to go to the hospital.
“What I wanted was adequate healthcare. Because that’s what you need. Something is happening in your body that you don’t want to happen, but you can’t talk to a doctor properly. You have to go underground somehow.”
No regard for the mother’s health
Many women in Malta feel the same way as Maria. According to estimates by the organization Doctors for Choice, there are at least 300 per year. The ban even applies when the mother’s life may be at risk.
Like with Andrea Prudente, an American. She is on vacation in Malta with her partner in June 2022, she is 16 weeks pregnant, with a desired child. But she gets bleeding and is taken to hospital. Finally, it becomes clear: The child has no chance of survival anymore.
But the doctors are not allowed to intervene because the child’s heartbeats are still audible. Even though the risk of infection for the mother is immensely high. Prudente’s partner is very worried because a flight to another country would also be risky. Prudente could have bleeding during the flight that would be difficult to stop outside of an operating room. Finally, she is flown to Mallorca, where the doctors perform the abortion.
The American Andrea Prudente sued Malta after she was not allowed to have an abortion there despite the danger to her life.
Lawsuit against Malta
Later, Prudente sues the state of Malta for violating human rights. Her lawyer, Lara Dimitrijevic, has been advocating for more rights for women in Malta for years.
When her client’s case made headlines, she says, many other women had come forward and posted reports of similar situations on social media. They too had found themselves in distress and had been in danger of losing their lives.
However, according to Dimitrijevic, Prudente is currently the only legal case. “Let’s not forget: Malta is a small island. Everyone knows everyone. And it is not easy for someone to go through such a public and controversial case.”
Anti-abortion activists reject changes
Society is deeply divided on the issue of abortion. On one side is the influential Catholic Church, which has strongly influenced the country’s culture. It is against certain exceptions to the abortion ban that parliament accepted in second reading in December with the majority of the ruling Labour Party. The Archbishop of Malta, Charles Scicluna, made it unmistakably clear that the blanket ban must not be lifted.
According to his words, the law change introduces something new. The text also refers to situations “where not the mother’s life, but her health is in danger. Thus, it suggests that health can be preserved by killing a new human life. That means abortion.”
This is also feared by pro-life activists and the opposition in parliament, the Nationalist Party. Jurist student Thomas De Martino is politically active for them and believes that a legalization of abortion is being introduced through the reference to the mother’s health: “The wording does not define what an emergency is or what a problem represents. Thus, it would open everything up to interpretation and it would be nothing other than allowing an abortion to be performed”.
Women must have a free choice
On the other side are initiatives like Doctors for Choice. In their view, the general abortion ban disadvantages women and unnecessarily endangers their lives. They advocate for a free choice. Gynecologist Isabel Stabile, for example, filed a judicial protest that was signed by 135 doctors.
She argues that the general abortion ban in Malta must be reviewed because it disadvantages women and unnecessarily endangers their lives. Stabile says, “What we really want are fewer abortions. But for that, we need sexual education and contraception. These must be free and accessible, but they are not.”
Hoping for international pressure
So far, the new legislation provides for the termination of pregnancy if the mother’s health is at risk. It is still unclear whether the law will even come into force, although the government aims to do so by the summer.
Malta’s President, George Vella, would have to sign it, but he is known as an opponent of abortion. Nevertheless, Maria hopes. She may have to remain anonymous, but she wants to tell her story.
“I hope that international pressure will be exerted on the country to eventually legalize abortion. But I think the first step would be to decriminalize abortion – whatever the reason for it.”