Activists call for decriminalisation of abortion at annual pro-choice rally

Protestors gathered outside the law courts in Valletta on Saturday morning to once again call for the decriminalisation of abortion. 

The theme of the rally, organised annually by the Voice For Choice coalition, was that abortion is not a crime and that no one should have to be silent, fearful or face stigma when seeking to terminate a pregnancy, which the coalition said was a form of healthcare. 

Demonstrators held signs with slogans such as ‘Women are not your property’, Keep your laws of my body’, and ‘The courts are not the place for those have had an abortion.’ 

Lawyer Emma Portelli Bonnici said Malta stands alone in Europe in having the strictest abortion laws, calling current legislation outdated and cruel. 

Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

“As an activist I know that abortion is not a crime, but as a lawyer I’m not allowed to forget how deeply unsettling the law actually is,” she said. 

She added that Bill 28, introduced in 2023, was meant to be a step forward but ended up being watered down to require a woman to be “at death’s door” before she could seek an abortion. 

Portelli Bonnici recalled the recent case of a 28-year-old woman who in July was handed a suspended prison sentence after she pleaded guilty to having an abortion using pills she bought online – the first conviction of its kind in Malta. The woman was reported to the police by her doctor. 

The lawyer said she did not blame doctors – who she said were not obligated to report an abortion - or even the police or judiciary, but politicians for failing to clarify the law. 

“They say they don’t want women to go to prison, but they lack the courage to make necessary changes,” she said. 

Following the July conviction, Prime Minister Robert Abela said the government was looking into amending the Professional Secrecy Act so that doctors can only report an abortion to the police if the patient gives their consent. 

Photo: Chris Sant Fournier.

James Buhagiar from NGO Men Against Violence encouraged men to support the women in their lives. 

“We call upon men not to stay silent, but to support women in Malta in their rightful quest to be treated as human beings. It is the very least we can do,” he said. 

Buhagiar said that women were still governed and their bodies policed by laws created in the 1850s. 

"While the world moved on and human rights have been largely recognised as a main principle and a base on which modern democratic state is built upon, in Malta women’s right to self-determination and bodily autonomy, the right to health care, the right for equal treatment in the eyes of the law is still stuck in distant past,” he said. 

Marceline Naudi from Academics For Choice said that while everyone had a right to their own beliefs, they did not have a right to impose those beliefs on others. 

“When a doctor reports a woman for having an abortion, they are making a moral judgement on someone else,” she said. 

Sensationalism surrounding abortion should be called out – ADPD 

In a statement, ADPD said campaigns related to the subject of abortion should be based on facts backed up by peer-reviewed scientific research. 

“The sensationalism and misrepresentation of medical facts, for example, on the size of an embryo, often used to pull the wool over the eyes of people with little to no medical literacy, should be called out and corrected by the press,” the party said.  

“We commend this weekend's strong call for decriminalisation and hope it will be supported by those who agree with our motion on abortion a presented in 2021 and as incorporated in our 2022 Green electoral manifesto. The key principle remains empathy over demagoguery.”