Malta – Abortion: Your discomfort, her pain | Open letter to Prime Minister Abela

'You must surely realise that our country is at a crossroads. It can either go down the path of protecting women, or it can cave in to conservatives and continue to criminalise women for taking decisions that are in their best interest'

Isabel Stabile
11 June 2023

Dear Honourable Prime Minister Abela,
As you well know, in 2021, then MP Marlene Farrugia tabled a Bill calling for the decriminalisation of abortion, something that Voice for Choice has been calling for since 2019. You chose to scuttle this for political reasons.

Then, in 2022, a Bill was filed to allow abortion care in very limited and extreme circumstances. I saluted you then on behalf of every woman in Malta, for proposing this legal amendment because I believed this would make Malta a little safer for those who can get pregnant. Perhaps I was mistaken, because progress on Bill 28 now seems to have stalled.

Continued: https://www.maltatoday.com.mt/comment/blogs/123366/abortion_your_discomfort_her_pain__open_letter_to_prime_minister_abela

11.06.2023

abortion law reform

decriminalisation of abortion

Isabelle Stabile

Marlene Farrugia

Voice for Choice

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

I was a walking grave: women describe impact of Malta’s abortion ban

Healthcare professionals feel helpless, unable to provide adequate care

Aug 9, 2021
Sarah Carabott

Maria* spent the last months of her pregnancy knowing the foetus she carried inside of her had an inverted heart and a hernia that had spread to its stomach.

Her obstetrician had told her the body would probably self-abort and there was nothing they could do in the meantime.

Continued: https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/i-was-a-walking-grave-women-describe-impact-of-maltas-abortion-ban.892069

No women imprisoned for abortion in 25 years

Having an abortion, helping someone get one, is a crime in Malta

June 1, 2021

No women have been imprisoned for abortion-related crimes in the past 25 years, it has emerged.

The information was supplied in parliament by Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri in reply to a question by Nationalist MP Edwin Vassallo.

Continued: https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/no-women-imprisoned-for-abortion-in-25-years.876125

01.06.2021

jailing women for abortion

Malta – ‘Women should not be prosecuted over abortion’ – ADPD

By Jurgen Balzan
May 29, 2021

Decriminalising abortion is the first basic essential step, ADPD leader Carmel Cacopardo said as he insisted that the debate should centre around empathy.

“Decriminalising abortion with respect to women is the first basic essential step which requires urgent action in Malta. It is essential as women who undergo abortion need the protection of the state and not being threatened with prosecution and persecution,” Cacopardo said, criticising the Labour Party and the Nationalist Party for stonewalling the debate.

Continued: https://newsbook.com.mt/en/women-should-not-be-prosecuted-over-abortion-adpd/

29.05.2021

decriminalisation of abortion

Proposal to decriminalize abortion prompts debate in Malta

BY KEVIN SCHEMBRI ORLAND, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Posted May 27, 2021

VALETTA, Malta (AP) — A proposal to decriminalize abortion in Malta has stirred up a polarized debate on an issue long considered taboo in the country with the strictest abortion laws in the European Union.

Independent lawmaker Marlene Farrugia caught many by surprise this month when she presented a bill in Parliament calling for the removal of paragraphs in the criminal code that make it a crime punishable by up to three years in prison to have an abortion or assist a woman in having one.

Continued: https://www.citynews1130.com/2021/05/27/proposal-to-decriminalize-abortion-prompts-debate-in-malta/

Malta – Decriminalising versus legalising abortion: what’s the difference?

May 18, 2021
Jessica Arena

When independent MP Marlene Farrugia presented a private member’s bill proposing the decriminalisation of abortion in Malta, temperatures soared, as vested parties on both sides made the case on why abortion should or should not be legislated.

However, there is a key difference between decriminalisation and legalisation.

Continued: https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/decriminalising-versus-legalising-abortion-whats-the-difference.872143

Malta – President Vella: I would rather resign than sign abortion bill

George Vella reiterates that he will never sign a bill that 'authorises murder'

May 17, 2021
Jessica Arena

President George Vella has reaffirmed his stance in strong opposition to abortion, repeating that he would rather resign than sign a bill concerning abortion.

“I will never sign a bill that involves the authorisation of murder,” Vella said in comments to Net News on Monday, stating that his position on the matter has always been clear.

Continued: https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/president-vella-i-would-rather-resign-than-sign-abortion-bill.872527

17.05.2021

Marie Louise Coleiro Preca

Lawmaker urges Malta to stop criminalising women who seek abortions

By Emma Batha, Thomson Reuters Foundation
MAY 12, 2021

LONDON, May 12 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A Maltese lawmaker made history on Wednesday by calling for the decriminalisation of abortion in the Mediterranean island, which has one of the world’s strictest bans.

In the first such move to amend the country’s tough abortion laws, independent MP Marlene Farrugia presented a bill which would remove criminal sanctions for women who seek terminations.

Continued: https://www.reuters.com/article/malta-law-abortion/lawmaker-urges-malta-to-stop-criminalising-women-who-seek-abortions-idUSL8N2MZ4QE

12.05.2021