Prime Minister Robert Abela said on Friday he "is not comfortable" that a young woman has been charged with abortion, and called for a debate on the subject. 

Abela was being interviewed by former journalist Lou Bondi as part of the State of the Nation conference. 

“I believe I am a person who does not fear change, and who is deeply affected by social injustice,” he said. 

The Prime Minister was referring to the case of a woman who a day earlier was accused and convicted of having a medical abortion at home. She was assisted throughout the case by a legal team from the Women’s Rights Foundation. 

The government’s proposed amendments to the criminal code that will allow for abortions to be carried out in specific circumstances were given a second reading in Parliament last year. The amendment is expected to go through all parliamentary stages before the summer recess.

“A prospective mother was condemned for abortion in our country, and nearly no one spoke out about this,” he said. 

Abela said he had read the judgement and was “shocked”. 

He pointed out that the woman was young, suffered from serious mental health problems and was in an abusive relationship with her partner, who reported her to the police after she “downed pills to stop the trauma”.

“If you had to ask me if I am comfortable with this situation, I would tell you that I am not,” he said.

“What makes me more uncomfortable is that we act as if nothing has happened... I was expecting a wave to come out of this,” the Prime Minister added.

Abela called for further debate on abortion to ensure that such cases are avoided in future. 

In another interview in the same event, opposition leader Bernard Grech was also asked for his opinions on abortion.

He said that while his view is that abortion is killing an unborn child, he agreed there needed to be further debate on the topic.

“We should discuss why people want access to abortion and how they have got to that situation,” he said. 

No major scandals since January 2020

When asked about corruption, Abela said there were no major scandals after January 2020, when he became Prime Minister. 

“We built on the good that was there and improved where it could have been done better,” he said, adding that, in the past three years, the government has focused on a number of social reforms. 

He said the government strengthened the FIAU, the police corps and the judiciary. Moreover, the police commissioner was not handpicked by the Prime Minister but was scrutinised by a parliamentary committee. 

Bernard Grech being interviewed during the State of the Nation's conference. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

Foreign workers

Asked about the large number of foreign workers in Malta, Abela said economic growth cannot be regressed and these workers "are needed". 

But Grech slammed the government’s economic plan, saying it is based on quantity rather than quality. 

He questioned how foreign workers are contributing to the country’s coffers. 

“We need to sit down and discuss how they are contributing and what they are contributing,” he said. 

“We need to improve our economic plan, as right now this has no direction. We need to transform our economy into one which is about quality. The same counts for our tourism plan. We need to see what sort of tourists rather than focus on quantity,” Grech insisted.