2023-06-30 05:55:33
Malta’s recent lifting of the total ban on abortion, which only allows access in life-threatening situations, is seen by critics in the European Parliament as a too small and insufficient step to protect women’s reproductive rights.
Malta, a Catholic country in southern Europe, has the toughest abortion laws in the EU. Currently, abortion is illegal in all circumstances, even in cases of rape, incest and when the mother’s life is in danger.
In addition, no medical intervention should be undertaken that involves the risk of dying the fetus, even if the goal is to save the mother’s life.
In all cases, the mother and the doctors involved face criminal prosecution and imprisonment, with the latter running the risk of being unable to practice their profession.
The ruling Labor Party (S&D) proposed legislation that would allow abortion in cases where the woman’s health is at risk. However, the proposal was changed at the last moment to say that a decision can only be taken if the woman’s life is at stake and that the signature of three doctors is required except in acute emergencies.
“The legislation passed will not fulfill its purpose of advancing the protection of women’s health and life during pregnancy in Maltese law and access to abortion treatment in Malta will remain illusory for women who depend on it,” said Katrine Thomasen, associate director for Europe at the Center for Reproductive Rights.
“This extremely restrictive and unenforceable law will do little to remedy the effects of the total ban on abortion that has harmed so many women in Malta,” she added.
While Malta has lifted the total ban, some see this change as a way to avoid real change.
“The Maltese law is in theory an improvement, but in practice it could only serve as a fig leaf for Malta to avoid necessary changes to its healthcare laws,” Karen Melchior (Renew Europe), member of the European Parliament’s Women’s Rights Committee, told EURACTIV .
“Only being able to provide necessary care when the mother is ‘in mortal danger’ will put many pregnant women at risk because doctors will be afraid to provide the necessary care. We’re already seeing this in Poland, where women are dying because they don’t get the medical care they need,” she added.
Evacuation delayed
“The new proposal would probably not even cover cases like Andrea Prudente’s, so women’s lives remain at risk,” MEP Sophie in ‘t Veld (Renew) told EURACTIV.
Prudente was in Malta with her partner to celebrate her pregnancy but suffered a miscarriage. Doctors told her that her 16-week-old fetus had no chance of surviving, but they could not perform an abortion as it still had a heartbeat, leaving her at risk of sepsis, bleeding and serious mental disorders.
She requested a medical evacuation, but doctors refused to forward the papers to her insurance company and only after a local lawyer got involved were they released. She was then evacuated to Mallorca, where she had an abortion and recovered. Prudente has now taken legal action against the Maltese state.
In early June, a Maltese woman who had been abused and assaulted by her partner and who was suffering from mental health problems at the time of her arrest was charged with performing a medical abortion using pills at home, which is also illegal in Malta.
The court explained that while her situation – in relation to the abuse she suffered at the hands of her partner – does not excuse her actions, she could have sought help to improve her emotional and mental state rather than to this to take “extreme measures”.
Thousands of Maltese women now order abortion pills online every year, and hundreds travel abroad to have the procedure.
Pro-life activists call for tightening
Over the years, so-called ‘pro-life’ groups have called for tougher laws. They even call for pregnancy tests for women traveling abroad and criminal prosecution for those who leave the country, have an abortion abroad, and then return.
The issue of abortion remains very controversial in Malta, as the country is majority Catholic and has very close ties to the Vatican.
Those calling for full decriminalization, or even a minor change in the law, face stiff opposition, which takes the form of online abuse, harassment, and even physical harassment in public.
Even those who write about abortion or advocate for relaxation of the law hide their names for fear of reprisals and losing their jobs.
Although abortion laws are set individually by member states, the European Commission is encouraged to keep an eye on them.
“We encourage the Commission to ensure that EU law is observed and respected by all Member States,” the chair of the European Parliament’s Home Affairs Committee, Juan Fernando López Aguilar (S&D), told EURACTIV, stressing that this is also the ” “Competence” of Member States in the field of sexual and reproductive rights.
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