Andrea Prudente loses libel case over abortion conspiracy claims by ex-MP
Although claims untrue, court rules Prudente was not the target of defamatory statements by Jason Azzopardi
A US woman denied an abortion in Malta has lost a libel suit she filed against ex-MP Jason Azzopardi.
Andrea Prudente and her husband Jay Weeldreyer sued Azzopardi in November 2022 over insinuations by the ex-MP that she had been brought to Malta as part of a ruse to spark a debate about abortion.
Prudente’s case hit international headlines when she was denied an abortion while on holiday in Malta after suffering a ruptured membrane when she was 16 weeks pregnant.
Doctors told her they could only intervene if her life was at imminent risk. Her pregnancy was medically terminated in Spain.
Azzopardi had claimed in a Facebook post that unnamed "third parties" had "conspired" to bring Prudente to Malta to create a controversy over the termination of a pregnancy due to a "pretend danger”.
A court presided over by magistrate Rachel Montebello ruled that Azzopardi's post targetted the unnamed "third parties" mentioned in the "conspiracy", rather than Prudente.
Azzopardi’s claims did not indicate that Prudente was part of the conspiracy or an active participant in it, but rather that she was used for the nefarious purposes of others.
A reasonable reader would not believe that a pregnant woman would fabricate her medical state to “pretend” to be in danger, the court said.
Conspiracy claims untrue
Azzopardi’s statement does not imply that Prudente fabricated her medical state, the court continued.
However, the court said the evidence showed the conspiracy claims by Azzopardi implicating third parties were untrue.
The facts show that Prudente was not bought to Malta as part of a conspiracy, as evidence shows the trip was solely organised by her and her husband, the court said.
Although the conspiracy claims were untrue, this does not mean they were defamatory towards Prudente, as Azzopardi's post did not imply that Prudente was involved in the supposed conspiracy by unidentified third parties.
Azzopardi's post had come at a time when the government was proposing a legal amendment which would allow doctors to terminate a pregnancy when a woman’s life or health is at serious risk.
A watered-down version of the law was passed by parliament in June 2023.
The law allows doctors to carry out an abortion if a woman's life is at immediate risk or her health is in "grave jeopardy which may lead to her death".