Malta set to ease strict anti-abortion laws

Malta will relax its anti-abortion laws and allow terminations of pregnancies where the mother's health or life is at risk, Chris Fearne, health minister, said on Wednesday (16 November).

The only European Union country that has an abortion ban is the Mediterranean island. Opinion polls consistently show strong opposition, especially among older people.

Fearne stated that legislative amendments will be presented next week to parliament to address situations in which a woman's health and life are at risk, but the foetus cannot be born.

He said that a doctor could be sentenced to up to four years imprisonment if he ends a pregnancy in order to save the life of the mother. Four years were also possible for women who terminate their pregnancy for the exact same reason.

"The choice is not whether the mother and baby survive. He said that the choice is between the death of the mother and the survival of the baby.

"We don’t believe that after suffering this ordeal, the woman should be facing the possibility of being imprisoned."

After a US tourist, Andrea Prudente, was denied a June request to end a non-viable pregnancy after she started to bleed profusely, the reform is now in place

She was told by her doctors that her life was in danger. She was transferred to Spain, where she was able to have an abortion.

Prudente sued Malta's government in September. She demanded that the courts declare that the law prohibiting abortion in any circumstance was a violation of human rights. This case is still pending.

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