A court case against a 34-year-old man accused of forcing his partner to have an abortion collapsed on Thursday after the woman declared she did not wish to continue the case.

The man had been charged with causing his partner to terminate her pregnancy after allegedly forcing her to take abortion pills when she was three months pregnant.

But the case was dropped when the 25-year-old woman took the witness stand – with a bruised left eye and reddened left side of her face – and declared she did not wish to proceed with the case.

The man and the woman – whose names cannot be published by order of the court – were both charged separately with domestic violence before Magistrate Caroline Farrugia Frendo.

The man, a Luqa resident, was charged with threatening, assaulting and slightly injuring his partner and forcing her to abort.

The Moroccan-born woman, from Ghajnsielem, was charged with threatening and slightly injuring him. The man had a scratch on his face and his right thumb was bandaged.

Police Inspector Christian Cauchi said that on March 12 at 7.30am the woman went to file a police report. She had injuries on her face, and claimed her partner had injured her.

She was taken to hospital by ambulance and police continued taking her report at the hospital.

'On and off' relationship

The woman said she had been in a relationship with the accused “on and off” since 2023. They had a recent case of domestic violence, but they remained together.

On March 12 they argued over €50 after she accused him of taking the money. They started to fight and assaulted each other. She threw a pan at him, and he hurled a chair at her and started beating her, the court heard.

The inspector went on to add that she had also told police she had been pregnant, and that, because her partner did not want the baby, he forced her to take pills to abort the pregnancy.

The was three months pregnant when she terminated the pregnancy in the toilet of his Luqa apartment, she told police.

The inspector added that since the woman had not been cautioned – and could incriminate herself when she spoke about the abortion – police could not charge her with that offence.

After the inspector explained to the magistrate the circumstances that led to the arrest, the woman took the witness stand and testified that the man was her ex-partner “at least for now”.

She made a request to drop the case against him, saying of the alleged assault, “This was the first time. He never raised a finger before.” She insisted that she was not threatened or asked to withdraw the charges.

The man followed her to the stand and also dropped the charges against her.

In light of the developments, the magistrate ordered “the procedures to be stopped there”.

Lawyers Franco Debono, Marion Camilleri and Charles Mercieca appeared for the woman while lawyer Amadeus Cachia represented the man.

Abortion is illegal

In Malta abortion is illegal – unless it is carried out by doctors if a woman’s life is at risk.

In July 2023, changes to Malta’s laws came into force in the form of amendments to provisions to the criminal code. This was the first time that Maltese law explicitly allowed doctors to terminate a pregnancy in certain situations.

The changes allowed doctors to terminate a pregnancy when a woman’s life is at risk, or her health is in “grave jeopardy which may lead to death.”

In the latter case, the termination must be approved by three separate doctors and the foetus must not be viable outside the womb.

Even when a woman’s life is at risk, a doctor must first determine that the foetus has not reached the period of viability. Abortions remain illegal in all other circumstances, including rape.

Under Maltese law, whoever causes a woman to miscarry – even with her consent – faced imprisonment for a term from 18 months to three years. The woman faces the same punishment.

A doctor or surgeon face up to four years jail, and perpetual interdiction from the exercise of their profession.

According to figures published in 2024 by Doctors for Choice, almost 500 women received abortion pills at home from a telemedicine service in 2023.

That represented a 16 per cent increase from the corresponding figure in 2022 and continued a years-long trend that has seen demand for abortion pills through the service, run by Women on Web and Women Help Women.