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

President Vella calls off Australia trip amid controversy on abortion debate

Speculation links decision to upcoming vote in parliament

Jan 14, 2023
Mark Laurence Zammit

President George Vella has called off a scheduled trip to Australia in February, indicating he intends to be in Malta when the abortion amendment goes through parliament.

That way he can sign off on the law himself if he agrees with the amendment’s wording, or else resign if he remains uncomfortable with it.

Continued: https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/president-vella-calls-off-australia-trip.1007266

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

‘Record’ number of abortion pills sent to Malta in 2022

Doctors for Choice say 424 pills were sent to Malta, up from 356 in 2021

December 26, 2022
Daniel Ellu

A record number of abortion pills - 424- were sent to Malta this year, the pro-choice organisation Doctors for Choice claimed on Monday. The organisation said 356 pills were sent in 2021.

“As an abortion rights organisation based in Malta, we consider the increase in abortion pill packs sent to Malta by reputable online telemedicine providers to be a positive thing,” Doctors for Choice said in a statement.

Continued: https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/record-number-abortion-pills-sent-malta-2022.1003744

26.12.2022

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Malta – 10 Labour MPs uneasy with abortion amendment – Ivan Bartolo

By Michaela Pia Camilleri
December 24, 2022

Nationalist Party deputy Ivan Bartolo has claimed that around 10 Labour Party deputies were uneasy with voting in favour of the amendment on our abortion law, but went ahead and did it anyway.

In a blogpost on Newsbook.com.mt, Bartolo said that though these deputies were uncomfortable with voting in line with their party’s position, they were too scared not to vote in favour of the bill. Bartolo did not say who these MPs are.

Continued: https://newsbook.com.mt/en/10-labour-mps-uneasy-with-abortion-amendment-ivan-bartolo/

24.12.2022

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/

Malta – Those who wage a ‘culture war’…

It should come as no real surprise that opponents of this bill have consistently distorted these facts

11 December 2022

Abortion is, by definition, already a sensitive and emotive topic in itself. But the debate surrounding this issue has so far served only to intensify all the emotions: without bringing any clarity (or, even less, rationality) to the discussion.

A case in point is the Opposition’s insistence that – by presenting a bill to amend Malta’s abortion law, in the wake of the Andrea Prudente incident last summer – the government is ‘hell-bent on introducing abortion, at all costs’.

Continued: https://www.maltatoday.com.mt/comment/editorial/120249/those_who_wage_a_culture_war#.Y5aHhXbMKrQ

Malta – Stand In Front Of Parliament With Us During Abortion Bill Vote, Doctors For Choice Urges Public

by Tim Diacono
December 11, 2022

Leading pro-choice NGO Doctors for Choice has urged people who agree with the proposed abortion bill to stand with them in front of Parliament when the vote is taken.

“On 19th December we, along with other NGOs and like-minded people, will be in front of Parliament for the Parliamentary vote on Bill 28,” Doctors for Choice said.

Continued: https://lovinmalta.com/news/stand-in-front-of-parliament-with-us-during-abortion-bill-vote-doctors-for-choice-urges-public/

11.12.2022