Malta – Abortion change that preserved the status quo

In stark contrast, the Diluted Amendment limits the scope of who may access the necessary treatment, since it requires that the life or health of the patient must be ‘in grave jeopardy which may lead to death’

Neil Muscat
14 October 2023

In the past months, Malta has witnessed the diluted version of Bill 28 (the ‘Diluted Amendment’) (Act XXII of 2023) signed into law by the President.

Prime Minister Robert Abela had touted the former Criminal Code amendment (the ‘Original Amendment’) as a way to protect women's lives and health, saying these principles were ‘non-negotiable'.

Continued: https://www.maltatoday.com.mt/comment/blogs/125229/abortion_change_that_preserved_the_status_quo__neil_muscat

Malta – ‘A historic mess’: Labour’s liberal wing unhappy with watered-down abortion bill

Labour insiders say abortion bill was badly handled 'from beginning to end'

July 2, 2023
Daniel Ellul, Mark Laurence Zammit

Several Labour MPs have expressed concern after the government backed down and amended the so-called 'abortion bill' even though they voted in its favour on Wednesday.

Bill 28 was unanimously approved in parliament, with no one calling a division (individual counting of votes).

The prime minister described the vote as a 'historic day', but several MPs in Labour's liberal wing are far less excited.

Continued: https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/a-historic-mess-labour-liberal-wing-unhappy-watereddown-abortion-bill.1041335

02.07.2023

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

Maltese society divided over arrest of woman who had abortion

By Alice Taylor and Spiros Sideris | EURACTIV.com and EURACTIV.gr
Jun 6, 2023

The arrest of a Maltese woman for having a medical abortion at home has divided Maltese society, with pro-choice groups calling for urgent changes to the law and staging protests, and the prime minister declaring it makes him feel ‘uncomfortable’.

Malta has a total ban on abortions, even in the case of rape, incest, or if the woman’s life is in danger. The unnamed woman reportedly took abortion pills, likely imported from abroad as they are illegal in the country, and had a medical abortion. She was subsequently arrested and given a conditional discharge.

Continued: https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/maltese-society-divided-over-arrest-of-woman-who-had-abortion/

06.06.2023

News

arresting women for abortion

decriminalisation of abortion

Doctors For Choice Malta

Doctors for Life Malta

Maltese Socialist Party

Robert Abela

self-managed abortion

total abortion ban

Women’s Rights Foundation

Woman in Malta charged in court for having abortion

Pro-choice groups condemn rare enforcement of country’s total ban on terminations

Agence France-Presse in Rome
Thu 1 Jun 2023

A woman in Malta has been charged in court for having an abortion, in a rare enforcement of the country’s total ban on terminations.

The Women’s Rights Foundation of Malta said: “What should have never happened [has] happened today: a Maltese woman was brought to court facing charges of having a medical abortion at home.”

Its legal team had helped the unnamed woman throughout the proceedings, it said, “and she was let go with a conditional discharge”, without giving further details.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/01/woman-malta-charged-in-court-for-having-abortion-pro-choice-condemn-rare-enforcement-total-ban-termination

01.06.2023

News

Doctors For Choice Malta

Dr Natalie Psaila

prosecuting women for abortion

Robert Abela

Women's Rights Foundation

Malta – Pro-choice coalition warns against changes to abortion Bill that risk creating barriers to treatment

Voice for Choice says Bill 28 that decriminalises abortion if a woman’s life or health is at risk should pass as is, warning that any other legal obligations placed on doctors will be of no clinical benefit to the patient

16 January 2023
by Kurt Sansone

Suggested changes to the Bill decriminalising abortion if a woman’s life or health is in danger risk putting up barriers to treatment, a pro-choice coalition has warned.

Voice for Choice said it was concerned over the changes being suggested to Bill 28 by the government in the face of public backlash.

Continued: https://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/120758/prochoice_coalition_warns_over_changes_to_abortion_bill_that_risk_creating_barriers_to_treatment#.Y8XqanbMKrQ

Malta – PM open to mechanism that will prevent abusing legal amendment on abortion

Prime Minister Robert Abela stands by the amendment to the Criminal Code allowing abortions when a mother’s life or health is in grave danger

15 January 2023
by Nicole Meilak

Prime Minister Robert Abela said he is open to consider introducing a mechanism to prevent abusing a legal amendment that will allow for abortions under strict circumstances.

Abela addressed this during a political activity in Valletta over the weekend.

Continued: https://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/120732/pm_open_to_mechanism_that_will_prevent_abusing_legal_amendment_on_abortion#.Y8S-rXbMKrQ

15.01.2023

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 – PM in strong defence of abortion reform, says women’s health is not negotiable

Robert Abela invokes the ghosts of reforms past, from divorce to marriage equality, in his defence of abortion legislation

4 December 2022
by Nicole Meilak

Women’s health is non-negotiable, Prime Minister Robert Abela said on Sunday, as he recalled past reforms on civil liberties to defend government’s next reform on abortion legislation.

During a political activity in Fgura on Sunday, Abela listed through several reforms that the Nationalist Party campaigned against over the years.

Continued: https://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/120154/pm_in_strong_defence_of_abortion_reform_says_womens_health_is_not_negotiable#.Y41b3HbMKrQ

04.12.2022