Malta’s Amended Abortion Law Will Not Protect Women’s Health and Lives

06.28.2023 (PRESS RELEASE) Geneva: A newly adopted abortion law in Malta has been criticised by public health, human rights and women’s rights experts in Malta and across the world. Although the law technically removes the total abortion ban previously in place in Maltese legislation, there are serious concerns that the terms of the law will significantly undermine efforts to protect women’s health and lives during pregnancy.  

An earlier draft version of the law would have legalised abortion in situations of serious risk to the health of a pregnant woman, in what would have been an important step toward greater protections in Malta for women’s human rights. However, last-minute amendments curtail legal abortion access solely to situations where a pregnant woman’s life is at risk, continuing to prohibit abortion in all other circumstances.  

Malta has long been the only country within the European Union to retain a complete ban on abortion in its law, imposing severe criminal penalties on doctors providing abortions, individuals seeking abortion care, and anyone providing assistance. 

Statement from Katrine Thomasen, Associate Director for Europe at the Center: 

“Access to abortion is a human rights and public health imperative. The adopted legislation will not serve its purpose of advancing protections in Maltese law for women’s health and lives during pregnancy, and access to abortion care in Malta will remain illusory for women who need it. This highly restrictive and unworkable law will do little to address the impact of the total ban on abortion, which has harmed so many women in Malta.” 

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Center for Reproductive Rights: [email protected]

Background 

Bill 28 was first introduced by Malta’s government on 21 November 2022 after an American tourist was refused life-saving abortion care during a miscarriage due to the total ban on abortion in Malta. She later filed a lawsuit challenging the abortion ban. Two judicial protests were also filed in June and July 2022 calling for the decriminalisation and legalisation of abortion. 

In Europe, countries have moved steadily towards the adoption of laws expanding access to abortion and removing barriers for more than 80 years. Today almost all European countries allow abortion on request or on broad social grounds. For an overview of Europe’s abortion laws, see the Center’s comparative legal analysis. For an overview of global abortion laws, see the Center’s World Abortion Laws map. 

In recent years, abortion bans and highly restrictive laws have been removed in several European jurisdictions. For example in 2019, 2021 and 2022 abortion on request was legalised in Ireland, Gibraltar and San Marino respectively. In 2020, abortion was decriminalised in Northern Ireland and is now legal on request.