Members of the European Parliament have backed a call for Malta to decriminalise abortion and to provide women with safe access to terminate pregnancies.
The non-binding resolution passed by 336 votes to 163 on Thursday primarily called for access to abortion to be included in the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Maltese Labour MEPs Alex Agius Saliba and Josianne Cutajar were the only two Social and Democrats to vote against, joining PN MEP David Casa.
Labour's Alfred Sant was among the 39 MEPs who abstained – the only Social and Democrat to do so.
Cyrus Engerer, who is among those who proposed the final resolution and was an S&D negotiator of the text, was abroad on parliamentary duties and could not participate in the vote.
Malta is the only EU state that prohibits abortion in all situations.
The resolution was brought forward by lawmakers on behalf of the S&D, Renew Europe, Greens/European Free Alliance and The Left, as well as by MEP Arba Kokalari of the European People’s Party group (not on the party’s behalf).
Apart from backing the enshrining of the right to abortion in the EU Fundamental Rights Charter, the non-binding resolution urges member states to fully decriminalise abortion in line with the 2022 WHO guidelines.
It also calls on members to “remove and combat obstacles to safe and legal abortion and access to sexual and reproductive health and rights”.
'Worrisome shift' in Malta
The action called on Malta and Poland to “repeal their laws and other measures concerning bans and restrictions on abortion” and “urges the Maltese authorities to immediately decriminalise abortion and provide access to safe and legal abortion in line with the 2022 WHO guidelines”.
The text of the resolution notes that in Malta, abortion is de facto banned and criminalised, and that last July a reform saw “a worrisome shift in the Maltese Parliament, removing rights and adding even more risks and barriers than before to access to abortion care”.
“Among these barriers”, it observes, doctors can now only terminate a pregnancy if the person’s life is at immediate risk and before ‘foetal viability’, and they are required to refer the "dying pregnant person" to a medical panel of three consultants.
The text adds that a pregnant person with cancer in Malta cannot be treated and must wait for the birth of the child before accessing cancer treatment, resulting in lower chances of successful treatment.
Thursday’s vote comes after France became the first EU nation to include the right to abortion in its constitution. It also comes amid increased attention on abortion rights in the United States after the US Supreme Court overturned a nationwide right to terminate a pregnancy.
What happens next?
Parliament now expects the European Council to convene and discuss revising the EU Treaties that would allow an amendment to the Charter to include that “everyone has the right to safe and legal abortion”.
However, inclusion in the bloc's legally binding charter would require unanimous agreement by the EU's 27 countries.
It will also forward the resolution to the Commission to ensure that organisations working against gender equality and women’s rights including reproductive rights do not receive EU funding.
A pro life demonstration in December last year. Photo: Jonathan Borg'Proposal in conflict with treaties'
Reacting to the vote, Casa said that constant efforts to impinge on national competences when it comes to abortion laws are destined to fail.
"These proposals are in conflict with treaties that can only be amended by unanimity. No resolution will change that.
"But it is condemnable that PL’s own MEPs are leading the charge to call for abortion being imposed on the people of Malta and Gozo”.
Casa explained that in the run-up to Malta’s accession to the EU, the government had negotiated safeguards ensuring that such matters would not be forced on Maltese people against their will.
“The PL’s position on abortion is already questionable following the covert attempts to introduce it last year when changes were proposed to the criminal code that were subsequently pulled back as a result of public outrage.
"[Prime Minister] Robert Abela should come clean and clearly state whether he supports the actions of his MEPs in the European Parliament when one of them co-signed the resolution and out of a delegation of four MEPs only half of them voted against it.”