‘A Love Letter To Malta’: Women Behind Abortion Play Open Up About Telling The Country What It Doesn’t Want To Hear

by Ana Tortell
April 20, 2025

Two Maltese women took to the stage to tell the untold stories of those living under one of the world’s harshest abortion bans.

Receiving rave reviews and international acclaim, Blanket Ban had two runs in the UK before creators and performers Marta Vella and Davinia Hamilton decided it was time to bring it to Malta.

Just after the show wrapped its local run, Lovin Malta sat down with the pair to learn more about the process and thought behind the powerful two-person play.

Continued: https://lovinmalta.com/theatre/a-love-letter-to-malta-women-behind-abortion-play-open-up-about-telling-the-country-what-it-doesnt-want-to-hear/

20.04.2025

Film, Art, Books

A love letter to Malta

Most abortion police reports come from doctors at Mater Dei Hospital – data

Abortion is illegal in Malta, except when performed by doctors to save a woman’s life

April 2, 2025
Claudia Calleja

Four of the seven abortions reported to the police in the last decade were flagged by doctors at Mater Dei Hospital, according to police data.

Since 2014, the police received seven reports of abortions. Four reports were made by doctors, two by partners and one by a family member.

While the circumstances that led to the doctors’ reports are not clear, concerns have long been raised that fear of legal repercussions deters women from seeking medical help after undergoing an abortion.

Continued: https://timesofmalta.com/article/most-abortion-police-reports-come-doctors-mater-dei-hospital-data.1107549

02.04.2025

News

Catholic hospital

Doctors For Choice Malta

hospitals calling police over abortion

Malta – ‘Blanket Ban’: stories of silent suffering

A hard-hitting protest play about Malta’s controversial ban on abortions

Giulia Magri
Mar 16, 2025

Living in a country with one of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the world, the topic is often the elephant in the room on this sunny island. As a journalist, I’ve reported countless abortion debates, which ultimately transform into ugly shouting matches, and attended demonstrations from both camps. One moment I’m reporting speeches on the need to decriminalise abortion, then, on the flip side, speeches on how life starts in the womb.

Time and again, I’ve seen politicians tiptoeing around the taboo topic, yet what the public and I rarely hear are the voices of the women who find themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place: women, daughters, mothers, wives who face the tough decision of having an abortion and carrying that decision in silence and shame.

Continued: https://timesofmalta.com/article/blanket-ban-stories-silent-suffering.1106537

16.03.2025

Malta – ‘We all know someone who has had an abortion’

The performance is a love letter to Malta

Mar 2, 2025
Esther Lafferty

Acclaimed play Blanket Ban is coming to Spazju Kreattiv this month. Esther Lafferty speaks to writers and actors DAVINIA HAMILTON and MARTA VELLA about the upcoming performance.

This Friday, the long-awaited show Blanket Ban, written and performed by Davinia Hamilton and Marta Vella, arrives on stage at Spazju Kreattiv. It was conceived in 2020, after the first pro-choice rally had taken place in Malta and as assistance from the Abortion Support Network became available in Malta.

“We wanted to contribute to this movement for change and asked ourselves what we could contribute as performers and activists too,” explains Vella.

Continued: https://timesofmalta.com/article/we-know-someone-abortion.1105833

02.03.2025

Film, Art, Books

Abortion Suppo

Abortion Support Network

Bringing women’s abortion stories to the screen

The ‘Dear Decision Makers’ documentary, currently crowdfunding on Zaar, hopes to amplify the voices of those affected by Malta’s strict reproductive rights laws

Sunday, 23 February 2025

A new crowdfunding campaign on Zaar was launched to help fund a documentary that will shed light on the realities of life under one of the strictest abortion laws in the world, through the untold stories of women in Malta.

The project builds upon the Dear Decision Makers storytelling initiative introduced in 2020, which provided a safe platform for women and other members of the public to share their experiences of abortion and the ways in which they were negatively impacted by Malta's blanket ban. The resulting publication featured 48 powerful, first-hand accounts, told in each individual's own words.

Continued: https://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2025-02-23/newspaper-lifestyleculture/Bringing-women-s-abortion-stories-to-the-screen-6736268050

23.02.2025

Film, Art, Books

abortion documentary

abortion stories

abortion storytelling

Dear Decision Makers film

Laura Paris

Olli Dickerson

Rosie Litterick

Sandie von Brockdorff

Europe

Malta

Human Rights

Malta – ‘I Won’t Change Policy To Attract Voters’ – Bernard Grech Stands Firm On PN’s Anti-Abortion Stance

By Charlene Galea
February 23, 2025

During a recent discussion on Malta and Gozo’s future, Nationalist Party (PN) Leader Bernard Grech stood by his party’s anti-abortion stance, emphasising that he would not shift policies simply to gain voter approval.

The statement came during an interview with Lovin Malta’s Ana Tortell, who pointed to recent surveys showing the PN underperforming among younger voters.

Continued: https://lovinmalta.com/news/news-politics/watch-i-wont-change-policy-to-attract-voters-bernard-grech-stands-firm-on-pns-anti-abortion-stance/

23.02.2025

Malta – ‘Hate Comments Reinforce Importance Of Having These Conversations’: Maltese Writes Of Abortion Play Open Up

By Ana Tortell
February 17, 2025

The writers of the international award-winning play Blanket Ban have opened up about the flurry of hate comments they’ve received over the years.

“The comments, however hurtful, only reinforce the importance of having this conversation,” writers Marta Vella and Davinia Hamilton told Lovin Malta.

Written and performed by Vella and Davinia Hamilton, Blanket Ban is centred around the restrictive abortion laws in Malta and documents real-life stories, shedding light on the reality that thousands of women face.

Continued: https://lovinmalta.com/lifestyle/health/reproductive-health/hate-comments-reinforce-importance-of-having-these-conversations-maltese-writer-of-abortion-play-opens-up/

Abortion in Europe: a right for some, a fight for millions of others

January 21, 2025
A European Perspective, European Broadcasting Union

Reproductive rights have been at the centre of political debates worldwide in recent months. As US President Donald Trump takes office following a campaign where access to abortion was a central theme, Europe too finds itself at a crossroads between liberal policies and restrictive laws.

As pro-life movements gain traction across the globe, campaigners are seeking an EU-wide guarantee to safe abortion access. From Hungary to Italy, France, Switzerland and beyond, we look at abortion rights from A European Perspective.

Continued: https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/life-aging/abortion-in-europe-a-right-for-some-a-fight-for-millions-of-others/88749102

Mexico / Malta – These two women are making abortions possible for those whose governments won’t allow it

“Our aim is to guarantee free and safe legal abortions to rape survivors”

September 27, 2024

Verónica Cruz Sánchez, for Amnesty International

Years ago in Guanajuato and throughout Mexico, abortion for survivors of rape wasn’t available. While it was technically legal, our government did not provide the services women and girls needed.

We created our feminist organization Las Libres (the Free Ones) in 2000 because we wanted to promote women’s rights and be there for those who had been raped. It seemed completely inhuman to think that these girls would have to bring these pregnancies to term. We wanted to make sure their rights were upheld, so we formed a network of gynaecologists, along with psychologists and lawyers to help guarantee the right to free and safe abortion. We also wanted to support girls and women who wanted to terminate unwanted pregnancies at home without medical supervision by accessing abortion pills for free.

Continued: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2024/09/these-two-women-are-making-abortions-possible-for-those-whose-governments-wont-allow-it/

27.09.2024

Commentary

abortion decriminalization

Amnesty International

Isabel Stabile

Las Libres

Verónica Cruz Sánchez

Malta – Court rejects Grech Mintoff’s challenge to investigate pro-choice activists

By Jurgen Balzan
July 12, 2024

Court has dismissed Ivan Grech Mintoff’s attempt to initiate criminal proceedings against pro-choice activists and organisations in Malta. The decision, delivered by Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech, found no prima facie cause for complaint against the named individuals and groups.

Grech Mintoff had filed a police complaint in October 2022, urging an investigation into several pro-choice activists, including Professor Isabelle Stabile, Dr. Alexander Clayman of Doctors for Choice, Dr. Lara Dimitrijevic of the Women’s Rights Foundation, and Francesca Fenech Conti of the Women for Women Foundation.

Continued: https://newsbook.com.mt/en/court-rejects-grech-mintoffs-challenge-to-investigate-pro-choice-activists/

12.07.2024