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


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/


‘Necessary to Disobey Harmful Laws’: These ‘Abortion Pirates’ Want Equal Access to Abortion Pills Worldwide

A colorful crowd of doctors, researchers and women’s activists convened in the Latvian capital to explore ways to use pills to circumvent anti-abortion laws.

By EMILY SCHULTHEIS
11/26/2022

RIGA, Latvia — For two sunny, crisp autumn days in mid-September, Riga’s Stradiņš University felt like the epicenter of a self-styled global civil rights movement: to give every person, in every culture or country, regardless of laws, access to abortion pills.

In the hallways, women pored over posters showing the latest research on the effectiveness of abortion pills and other developments in abortion and contraception care. Representatives from pharmaceutical companies enthusiastically pitched their medications and products to doctors sipping coffee and tea during a break between panels. There were graphic novels about an at-home medical abortion and T-shirts printed with women’s self-stated reasons for ending a pregnancy; there were slogans printed on T-shirts like “Make Abortion Legal Again” and a video promoting abortion rights to the tune of Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance.”

Continued: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/11/26/global-abortion-rights-movement-latvia-00069224


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: 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


Poland’s ban on abortion forces many to seek help in Germany

A Berlin-based activist group seeks to aid the rising number of women seeking help with abortion in Poland.

By Gouri Sharma
Published On 8 Aug 2022

For Zuzu*, an activist with the Berlin-based group Ciocia Basia that assists people seeking an abortion in neighbouring Poland, fielding calls is just one of many responsibilities she carries out.

Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Zuzu and other activists working with partner organisation Abortion Without Borders (AWB) told Al Jazeera that the number of calls they are receiving has increased.

Continued: https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2022/8/8/polands-ban-on-abortion-forces-many-to-seek-help-in-germany


‘Women are treated like walking incubators’: Malta’s fight for abortion

The island nation is the only country in the EU in which termination is still illegal under any circumstances, forcing women to have the procedure abroad or else risk prosecution. But women’s rights groups are pushing for change

by Rachel Cooke
Sun 19 Jun 2022

Elle doesn’t find it easy to talk about her
abortion, not because she regrets it – she would do the same again without any
hesitation – but because the memory of the terrible, almost overwhelming, fear
and isolation she experienced at the time still makes her feel so angry. “I’m
privileged,” she says, twisting the ring on her index finger. “I could afford
to travel. But what about those less fortunate than me? I know of a woman who
felt so desperate when she found out she was pregnant again, she put her three
children in front of some cartoons on the TV, and went straight upstairs to the
bathroom to begin launching herself from the toilet on to the floor in the hope
of inducing a miscarriage.” She’s fighting tears now. “That woman almost killed
herself. What about her? Does anyone want to hear her story?”

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/19/the-fight-for-abortion-in-malta


Malta – Letter to the editor – Health at risk

January 19, 2022
Christopher Barbara, obo Doctors for Choice – St Julian’s

John Pace (January 11) called me “malicious” and a “bad loser” for asking for the decriminalisation of abortion in Malta. Such insults do not deserve a reply but I will address his false claim that Malta’s abortion law is a “successful deterrent”.

It is not. Because in the age where everyone has access to the internet, or knows someone who has, it only takes a few seconds of online searching to learn that abortion pills can be purchased and delivered to Malta and can successfully end an early pregnancy at home. Before abortion pills could be delivered through online telemedicine, women in Malta used to be regularly referred to legal or not-so-legal clinics abroad.

Continued: https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/letters-to-the-editor-january-19-2022.928633


Germany eases access to abortions in telemedicine pilot project

Germany has seen a dramatic reduction in the number of doctors who will perform abortions. Now, a telemedicine pilot project wants to help women enact their right to reproductive self-determination.

19.12.2021
Kate Brady

Anna and her partner had been using a copper coil IUD as a contraceptive for two years before they found themselves staring, stunned at a positive pregnancy test. The chances of conceiving had been slim: Fewer than one in 100 women will become pregnant while using the internal contraceptive.

Anna, who was 26 at the time, and her partner didn't feel ready to start a family. Both financial constraints and a lack of support in the family played a role in their decision to terminate the pregnancy — a choice that wasn't easy to make.

Continued: https://www.dw.com/en/germany-eases-access-to-abortions-in-telemedicine-pilot-project/a-60172718


Malta – Labour MEP Alfred Sant calls for open debate on abortion

Cultural, behavioural norms should not override inalienable rights - former PM

June 28, 2021

Labour MEP Alfred Sant is calling for an open debate on abortion, days after he abstained from voting on a report identifying abortion as a human right.

The former prime minister warned that while the debate should respect prevalent cultural and behavioural norms, these should not override inalienable rights.

Continued: https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/labour-mep-alfred-sant-calls-for-open-debate-on-abortion.882721