Activists riled as Maltese government tones down abortion law changes

By Alice Taylor Jun 26, 2023

The Maltese government toning down changes to the country’s abortion laws has sparked disappointment among local activists who have campaigned for change after one woman was denied life-saving care and had to be medically evacuated, and another was charged for procuring a medical abortion.

Malta, a Catholic country in southern Europe, is home to the bloc’s most draconian abortion laws. Currently, abortion is illegal in all circumstances, even in cases of rape, incest and where the mother’s life is in danger. Additionally, no medical procedure can be performed, which may risk the foetus dying, even if it is to save the life of the mother.

Continued: https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/activists-riled-as-maltese-government-tones-down-abortion-law-changes/

Malta govt backs down on abortion bill after protests

Reuters
June 23, 2023

VALLETTA, June 23 (Reuters) - Malta's government on Friday backed down on a bill which would have allowed the abortion of pregnancies when the mother's health was at serious risk, saying instead that terminations would only be allowed when the mother's life was in danger.

Malta is the only country in the European Union which does not allow any form of termination, and the original bill had raised a storm of protest, with anti-abortion campaigners saying the definition of what constituted a health risk was too wide.

Continued: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/malta-govt-backs-down-abortion-bill-after-protests-2023-06-23/

Malta – Abortion: Uncomfortably numb

While fully recognising the government’s attempt to bring some sanity to Malta’s strict anti-abortion law, we urge the Prime Minister to move beyond discomfort. Politicians cannot be ‘uncomfortably numb’ to the pain, fear and stigmatisation Maltese women must endure because abortion remains a criminal act

11 June 2023

Robert Abela is arguably the first Maltese Prime Minister to openly speak about the realities of abortion from the woman’s perspective, and to push for a change in legislation.

Meek though government’s attempt may be, to decriminalise abortion in two very limited circumstances – if a woman’s life is in danger, or her health is in grave jeopardy – it has to be recognised for what it is; a bold attempt to change Malta’s draconian anti-abortion law.

Continued: https://www.maltatoday.com.mt/comment/editorial/123367/abortion_uncomfortably_numb

Malta – 2022 in review: A health crisis that sparked an abortion debate2

Malta’s blanket abortion ban has been questioned many times in the past... but 2022 saw its most serious challenge yet

Claudia Calleja
Jan 1, 2023

Abortion: a word that is guaranteed to spark a tense debate. Throughout the years, Malta has been nudged into considering its introduction but has held firm against. In 2013, the International Commission of Jurists told the UN that Malta’s blanket ban on abortion puts women at risk of torture and cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment. Nothing happened.

Three years later, the UNs Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended the decriminalisation of abortion “in all circumstances”, urging the government to ensure adolescent girls have “access to safe abortion and post-abortion care services”. Several international appeals persisted, including from the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights. Nothing happened.

Continued: https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/2022-review-health-crisis-sparked-abortion-debate.1004578

Malta – From Metsola to Bill 28: how politicians got talking on abortion

It was once a taboo subject in the political arena but 2022 saw abortion making it to the parliamentary agenda as Malta was cast in the international spotlight over its draconian anti-abortion law. Maya Dimitrijevic outlines the trajectory of the abortion debate

26 December 2022
by Maya Dimitrijevic

The tone for the abortion debate in 2022 was set early when Nationalist MEP Roberta Metsola signed the Simone Veil Pact just after becoming tEuropean parliament president.

The pact calls on signatories to preserve, promote and strengthen women’s rights at European, national and local level. It explicitly calls for guaranteed access to contraception and abortion.

Continued: https://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/120443/looking_back_at_2022__from_metsola_to_bill_28_how_politicians_got_talking_on_abortion#.Y6nWPHbMK3A

Malta – ‘Nurses ready to quit if abortion is legalised’ – MUMN

By Jurgen Balzan
December 17, 2022

The Malta Union for Midwives and Nurses (MUMN) has claimed that it is informed that a number of nurses and midwives are ready to quit their jobs if abortion is legalised.

This comes as Parliament is currently discussing an amendment that would allow the termination of pregnancies when the woman’s life is at risk and when her health is in grave jeopardy. Government insists that such a legal amendment is necessary as under current laws doctors and women are liable to criminal prosecution if a pregnancy is terminated under any circumstance.

Continued: https://newsbook.com.mt/en/nurses-ready-to-quit-if-abortion-is-legalised-mumn/

Protests in Malta as parliament debates abortion amendment

Reuters
Dec 4, 2022

VALLETTA - A large picture of an unborn baby was placed outside the office of Malta's prime minister on Sunday as demonstrators called on the government to halt plans to amend the country's strict anti-abortion laws.

The protest, the biggest in years, attracted several thousand people including Malta's top Catholic bishop and the leader of the conservative opposition, but was led by a former centre-left president, Marie Louise Coleiro Preca.

Continued: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/large-demos-malta-parliament-debates-abortion-law-2022-12-04/

04.12.2022

Marie Louise Coleiro Preca

Malta proposes bill to ease EU’s strictest anti-abortion law

Malta’s government has introduced legislation to ease the European Union’s strictest anti-abortion law and allow the procedure in cases where the mother’s life or health is at risk

By KEVIN SCHEMBRI ORLAND, Associated Press
November 21, 2022

VALLETTA, Malta -- Malta’s government introduced proposed legislation Monday to ease the European Union’s strictest anti-abortion law and allow the procedure in cases where the mother’s life or health is at risk.

The move comes after a headline-grabbing case involving an American tourist who miscarried and was airlifted off the Mediterranean island to get treatment.

Continued: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/malta-proposes-bill-ease-eus-strictest-anti-abortion-93743387

Malta moves to ease EU’s last total ban on abortion

Nov 16, 2022
By Jessica Parker & Paul Kirby

Malta's government is to propose a change in the law to allow doctors to terminate a pregnancy if a mother's life or health is at risk. The small Mediterranean state has the only total abortion ban in the EU.

Ministers promised to review the law when a US tourist was denied an abortion after she began to miscarry. Andrea Prudente, who was 16 weeks pregnant, was told doctors could do nothing while the baby's heart was still beating.

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-63650476

Malta: The only EU country where abortion is illegal leaves women scared

By Jessica Parker and Sira Thierij, BBC News, Malta
Aug 11, 2022

Alone, in her family bathroom, a woman secretly searches for information about abortion on her phone. This was Maria - not her real name - after finding out she was pregnant.

"I was scared," she says. "I didn't know what the police [would] do. I thought maybe they would be searching for people googling the word abortion. And then you obviously get paranoid and your thoughts get carried away."

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62479624