Four of the seven abortions reported to the police in the last decade were flagged by doctors at Mater Dei Hospital, according to police data.

Since 2014, the police received seven reports of abortions. Four reports were made by doctors, two by partners and one by a family member.

While the circumstances that led to the doctors’ reports are not clear, concerns have long been raised that fear of legal repercussions deters women from seeking medical help after undergoing an abortion.

Abortion is illegal in Malta, except when performed by doctors to save a woman’s life. 

However, recent figures released by Doctors for Choice show that more women are receiving abortion pills at home. Shipments of abortion pills to Malta totalled 590 last year, up 14%.

Isabel Stabile, a gynaecologist with Doctors for Choice, said criminalising abortion “is clearly not a deterrent”.

She said: “Women, and anyone who can get pregnant, should feel safe to seek medical care if they’ve had an abortion.”

The number of women in Malta who obtained an abortion is likely to be significantly higher because the figures do not include those who travel abroad to have an abortion or those who source abortion pills through other means.

According to the figures available, the police received two reports of abortions in 2014, one in 2017, two in 2023 and another two in 2024.

In two cases, no charges were issued, in three cases judgment was handed down, and two cases are pending.

It has been over 25 years since a woman was jailed for carrying out an abortion in Malta.

In June last year, a woman charged with abortion was given a conditional discharge for three years.

Almost a decade earlier, in 2014, a woman received a two-year jail sentence suspended for four years.

That same year, a 28-year-old woman was sentenced to 18 months in prison, suspended for two years.