Women's lobby 'concerned' at calls for investigation into abortion pill safes

The Malta Women’s Lobby has expressed concern at calls yesterday for an investigation into reports that an NGO has placed several key safes containing abortion pills in locations across Malta and Gozo.

The National Council of Women issued the call Monday, following reports of the key safes’ installation earlier this month.

Responding to the calls, the Malta Women’s Lobby said the council’s statement on the safes “presents abortion pills primarily as a matter of illegality, secrecy, and danger”, which it said overlooked a “painful reality”.

“Women and girls facing crisis pregnancies typically would already be experiencing fear, isolation, poverty, coercion, abandonment, domestic violence, or serious medical uncertainty”, the lobby said.

“In such situations, they seek abortion pills through locked boxes, not out of choice, but out of desperation because Malta’s legal framework leaves them with very few safe, dignified, and timely alternatives.”

The lobby said it was “misleading” to present abortion pills as inherently unsafe while ignoring the difficulties facing crisis pregnancies, while adding there seemed to be less concern for women taking abortion pills than shown about the safes containing the medication.

Doctors for Choice figures showing that 667 women accessed abortion pills using telemedicine services last year “clearly shows that the current legal framework does not eliminate abortion; it simply pushes women towards secrecy, fear, and delayed access to reliable information”, the lobby said.

“If we truly care about women, we must support them before, during, and after a crisis, not expose them to investigation, shame, or fear”, it said while calling for abortion to be decriminalised.

“Women cannot be subjected to the humiliation of being dragged through the courts for trying to take care of their reproductive health. They also deserve access to doctors who are not fearful of being criminalised if they help women during abortion complications.”

A woman was handed a suspended sentence last month after being found guilty of having an abortion. The case was reported to police by a doctor at the hospital.