The partner of a woman whose pregnancy ordeal prompted a Bill to amend Malta’s strict abortion ban has condemned those who claim that the couple plotted to introduce abortion to the country. 

In an interview with VICE World News, Jay Weeldreyer referred to the Maltese politicians who oppose the kind of healthcare his wife needed as “sad bullies” who are used to getting their way by “intimidating and bullying”.

“You already ruined our lives. These are bullies dancing on the grave of my daughter,” Weeldreyer said.

Andrea Prudente and Weeldreyer were on holiday in Malta in June to celebrate their babymoon, when Prudente, at 16 weeks pregnant, suffered symptoms of a miscarriage.

She was told by doctors that her pregnancy was no longer viable, but in line with current law, she was denied an abortion.

Fearing for her life, Prudente was then airlifted to Spain for a termination after her travel insurance company deemed her case “life-threatening”.

In a previous interview with Times of Malta, Weeldreyer had described how much the couple had longed for their baby girl.

The case cast Malta in the international spotlight, and the couple later sued the Maltese government over the ordeal. 

Last month, the government moved a bill which will allow doctors to terminate a pregnancy when a woman’s life or health is at risk. 

The bill is currently being debated in parliament, with the final vote expected in January.

The bill has drawn a storm of protests from the opposition, the Church, and several NGOs. 

Jay Weeldreyer and Andrea Prudente at Mater Dei Hospital

There have also been claims that the couple flew to Malta to introduce abortion to the country.

The couple filed two libel suits against former Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi and blogger Simon Mercieca, who claimed that Prudente had conspired to introduce abortion to the country. 

PN leader Bernard Grech was also called out for mocking Prudente in parliament, at one point using a play on words, saying the prime minister should be “prudenti (prudent)”.

“At first I was shocked at the accusations coming out of Malta that Jay and I had faked our experience as part of a giant 'pro-abortion' publicity stunt,” Prudente told VICE World News. 

“But then, it pretty much fits. We have yet to encounter a single coherent argument supporting our treatment there as justified or right. The opposition is refusing to interact with the medical facts of our case.”

The article refers to how one Maltese woman heard her mother say that Prudente had come to Malta "especially to have an abortion" and that she was recruited by someone in parliament. 

She said that her mother heard this "from a show on a local radio station".

An admin on a Facebook group said the amount of hate speech and misinformation around the couple is "really sad and infiltrating everywhere".