Malta moves to ease EU’s last total ban on abortionon November 16, 2022 at 6:28 pm

- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -

The reform would allow doctors to terminate a pregnancy if a mother’s life or health were at risk.

People demonstrate against Malta's total ban on abortion in Valletta, Malta, September 25, 2022Image source, Reuters

Malta’s government is to propose a change in the law to allow doctors to terminate a pregnancy if a mother’s life or health is at risk.

The small Mediterranean state has the only total abortion ban in the EU.

Ministers promised to review the law when a US tourist was denied an abortion after she began to miscarry.

Andrea Prudente, who was 16 weeks pregnant, was told doctors could do nothing while the baby’s heart was still beating.

Facing a potentially deadly infection she asked for an abortion and after days of waiting she was eventually allowed to fly to Spain.

Maltese Health Minister Chris Fearne said a legal amendment would go before parliament in the coming days to ensure doctors were now legally protected in cases of medical complication that left a mother’s life at risk or her health in grave jeopardy due to the pregnancy.

Malta’s criminal code currently says any doctor who knowingly provides a woman with the means for a termination faces a jail term of 18 months to four years and a permanent professional ban. Any woman who arranges her own termination is also liable to face jail, although no woman is thought to have faced criminal charges in years.

Last July Ms Prudente told the BBC that a midwife at Mater Dei hospital in Malta had told her that doctors might intervene “when I would be on the ‘brink of death'”. However, the head of the Malta College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said they would have never allowed her condition to deteriorate to that extent.

Andrea Prudente and Jay Weeldreyer

Image source, Jay Weeldreyer

Pro-choice gynaecologist Isabel Stabile, one of 135 doctors in Malta who challenged the law, said the government had confirmed that the last blanket ban on abortion in the EU would end.

She said the change was a “step in the right direction” but did not go far enough: “There will still not be any provision to terminate pregnancies in cases of rape or incest, or in cases of fatal, fetal anomaly.”

The health minister said the spirit of the law and medical ethics was to save lives, so the change ensured that the principle was enshrined in law.

Prime Minister Robert Abela told The Times of Malta earlier this month that women had told him that he had to recognise the reality that women were unable to seek medical help if they suffered complications for fear of being sent to jail.

These past months I’ve met tens of women who aborted using a tablet. Conservatively, around 300 or 350 women abort this way every year,” he said. “All these women told me the same thing: that they had been stigmatised and that none of them had found any sort of support.”

Malta is a predominantly Catholic country and a recent survey indicated 61.8% of people were completely opposed to abortion.

Some Maltese have argued that the law has acted as a deterrent. “When mothers are faced with life-threatening conditions then doctors can intervene,” Christian Briffa of anti-abortion youth group, I See Life, told the BBC during the summer.

But Justice Minister Jonathan Attard said the reform would remove any form of doubt and ensure patients received the best healthcare.

- Advertisement -

Discover

Sponsor

Latest

Wisconsin: Suspect named after car ploughs into Waukesha Christmas paradeon November 22, 2021 at 4:27 pm

At least five people have been killed after a speeding SUV ploughed into a Christmas celebration.The parade in Waukesha - a community of about...

Oscars nominations 2024: Barbie and Oppenheimer set to dominateon January 23, 2024 at 1:40 am

The two films which conquered the 2023 box office are likely to be recognised at the Academy Awards.Image source, Getty ImagesBy Steven McIntoshEntertainment reporterNominations...

The Netflix show putting the spotlight on menopauseon March 29, 2021 at 12:48 am

The new Netflix show Bombay Begums puts the spotlight on menopause, but why aren't we talking about it?image copyrightHitesh MulaniPopular culture is generally associated...

Call for extra bank holiday to be made permanenton April 25, 2022 at 11:03 pm

Dragons' Den star Deborah Meaden is among business leaders who signed an open letter to government.Image source, Getty ImagesBusiness leaders have urged the prime...

Nigerian student Aminu Adamu Mohammed apologises to Aisha Buhari over tweeton December 4, 2022 at 10:33 pm

Aminu Adamu Mohammed, 24, describes the experience as the ''darkest hours'' of his life.Aminu Adamu Mohammed, 24, describes the experience as the ''darkest hours''...