President George Vella does not exclude going abroad again to avoid signing legal changes related to abortion once they are presented to him for his final signature.
"I do not exclude anything, because we are speaking about suppositions at this stage," he told Times of Malta when asked if he would consider flying out of the country to avoid having to sign the amendments to the Criminal Code into law.
"We will speak when we have the final draft [of the amendment]... the process is moving forward... I hope there will be an agreement for everyone to be happy," he told journalists on Wednesday.
The government is proposing a legal amendment, currently being debated in Parliament, that would allow a pregnancy to be terminated if the mother’s life is at risk or her health is in grave danger.
The proposal sparked a national debate, with critics saying the government is trying to introduce abortion by stealth and proponents saying the changes are needed to ensure legal certainty for doctors and mothers.
But the Prime Minister said on Sunday the government is willing to introduce amendments to ensure that the concept of allowing abortion when a woman’s health is in grave danger is not abused.
On Tuesday, Vella broke with tradition to raise the issue of abortion during his Republic Day speech, saying he hopes that “all the points” are addressed before the amendment is signed into law.
Sources previously told Times of Malta he was willing to resign if parliament approved the proposed amendments.
When a law allowing doctors to perform genetic testing on IVF embryos was approved in parliament last July, Vella flew to the UK, meaning his stand-in Frank Bezzina signed the law in his stead.
The Nationalist Party has declared its opposition to the abortion amendment, saying that it is a backdoor for the introduction of abortion on demand. A few days ago, thousands of anti-abortion protestors turned up in Valletta to voice their opposition to the amendments.
Labour MPs have reportedly been told that the amendment is expected to be tweaked when it passes to an upcoming technical phase when it is discussed by MPs within a parliamentary committee.
Last month, a group of academics argued that the proposal as it is currently worded could be used to justify terminations due to mental health-related conditions. Some 450 doctors backed these proposals.
Subsequently, over 100 academics declared they supported the government's bill as it currently stands.