Abortion in Malta

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Monument for the unborn child on a main road between Mosta and Naxxar, dedicated by President Eddie Fenech Adami. Pro-life monument between Mosta and Naxxar Malta, Monument for the unborn child.jpeg
Monument for the unborn child on a main road between Mosta and Naxxar, dedicated by President Eddie Fenech Adami.

Abortion in Malta is illegal except in cases where the life of the pregnant woman is at risk. [1] Until 2023, it was illegal without exception. [2] Malta has the most restrictive laws regarding abortion in Europe (alongside Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Poland, and the Faroe Islands) [3] with the law in Malta held to be influenced by Roman Catholic Christianity, which formed part of the identity of 82% of the population according to the 2021 census.

Contents

Treatment to end an ectopic pregnancy is allowed through a medical protocol which allows for each situation to be considered individually in line with the double effect principle i.e. not causing intentional harm to the pregnant woman or her unborn child. [4] [5]

Law on abortion

The Criminal Code of Malta was first introduced in 1854 and includes abortion, which was not previously lawful, within sections for crimes against the person (in Article 218) and the administration or supplying of substances considered "poisonous or injurious to health" (in Articles 241-243).

In addition to the strong influence of the Catholic Church, [6] Malta was under British administration when the Code was introduced; abortion had been previously outlawed by statute in England and Wales under Lord Ellenborough's Act in 1803 and the subsequent Offences Against the Person Acts in 1828 and 1837.

Article 241, on procuring miscarriage, states that anyone who causes the miscarriage of "any woman with child" by any food, drink, medicine, or by violence, or by any other means, shall be liable, on conviction, to imprisonment for a term from eighteen months to three years. The same law applies to any woman who procures her own miscarriage, or who has consented to the use of the means by which the miscarriage is procured. [7]

In addition, the Criminal Code prohibits: [8]

The law on culpable miscarriage was introduced in 2002 as part of a revision of the criminal law. [10]

A further amendment of the Code (Article 243B), in 2023, clarified the exceptional circumstances in which abortion is permitted, for 'saving the life and protecting the health of a pregnant woman' where she is 'suffering from a medical complication' which may place her: [11]

This exemption only applies when, after having considered current medical practices in Malta, 'circumstances of necessity still subsist which dictate that the medical intervention be carried out.' [11]

In cases where the life of the woman may be at immediate risk, the intervention is legal when in the reasonable opinion of the medical practitioner carrying out the intervention, the foetus has not reached the period of viability. [11]

In cases where the health of a pregnant woman may be in grave jeopardy which may lead to death, three additional conditions also apply: the reasonable opinion of the medical team being that the foetus has not reached the period of viability and cannot be delivered according to the standards of the medical profession; the medical intervention being carried out 'only after the medical team has confirmed its necessity; and the intervention being carried out in a licensed hospital having the facilities required for the necessary intervention. [11]

Under the Protocol No.7 of the Treaty of Accession for Malta's admission to the European Union in 2004, EU treaties or legislation are not permitted to "affect the application in the territory of Malta of national legislation relating to abortion." [12]

Proposals

In 2005, Deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg (a member of the Nationalist Party) sought to amend the Constitution of Malta to include a prohibition on abortion. [13] As it stands, the Constitution states, in article 33(1) that no person shall intentionally be deprived of his life "save in execution of the sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence under the law of Malta of which he has been convicted." [14] Capital punishment in Malta was abolished by law in 2000.

The Malta Charter on the Dignity, Rights, Protection and Development of the Unborn Child was published in 2007 with an introduction by the then President of Malta, Eddie Fenech Adami, and support from 45 affiliated organisations, including the Nationalist Party, the Labour Party, and several voluntary organisations. The charter outlines recommendations and roles for parents, government, the medical profession, the media, the alcohol and tobacco sectors, employers and managers, children's social services to protect life before and after birth. [15]

In 2018, Carmel Cacopardo, then leader of Democratic Alternative (a minor opposition party), stated that while his party had never advocated for the introduction of an abortion law, he believed that more should be done to address circumstances that lead to abortion with genuine respect towards human life not only shown during pregnancy but also before and afterwards. [16]

In May 2021, independent MP Marlene Farrugia made the first legislative proposal to decriminalise abortion by replacing the current law with a law punishing only forced abortion with 10 years' imprisonment. The Bill did not proceed into law. [17] [18] Ms Farrugia had announced in 2019 that she would leave Parliament at the next election, and did not stand for re-election in 2022. [19]

The Volt Malta party, founded in the same year, has campaigned for abortion rights since its foundation and especially during the 2022 general election, and is considered Malta's first pro-choice party. [20] However, the party received only 382 votes (0.13%) at the election.

In November 2022, Health Minister Chris Fearne, from the Labour Party, presented the Criminal Code (Amendment No. 3) Bill which stated that no offence shall be committed when the termination of a pregnancy results from "a medical intervention aimed at protecting the health of a pregnant woman suffering from a medical complication which may put her life at risk or her health in grave jeopardy." [21]

A group of 80 physicians, lawyers, ethicists and academics in the Inti Tista' Ssalvani (You can save me) coalition proposed a more limited expert clause, which would have changed the exception for abortion in the Bill to situations where "the death or bodily harm of an unborn child results from a medical intervention conducted with the aim of saving the life of the mother where there is a real and substantial risk of loss of the mother's life from a physical illness." [22]

Around 20,000 people, around 4% of the island's total population, protested outside Parliament against the Bill in December 2022 and were addressed by former President Marie Louise Coleiro Preca. [23] Leader of the Opposition Bernard Grech stated that the government Bill was a means for the Labour Party to introduce abortion in Malta, and insisted that his Nationalist Party would remain opposed to it. [24] [25] Volt Malta criticised the Bill as not going far enough and called for the decriminalisation of abortion as a first step, as well as the legalisation of abortion pills and treatment of abortions as part of medical health care rather than as part of the Criminal Code. [26] [27]

President George Vella indicated his opposition to signing the Bill as originally worded. After several months of consultation, the Labour Government introduced Article 243B to clarify the law, stating that "peace of mind is given that the necessary procedures are in place with the aim of excluding the possibility of any abuse from this important change.” [28]

Statistics

Based on comments from doctors with whom he has spoken about the issue, Carmel Cacopardo estimated in 2018 that between 300 and 400 Maltese women travelled abroad to have abortions each year, mostly to Great Britain (about 60 per year) and Italy, but also to Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium. [16] This estimate indicated that the rate of abortion for women from Malta was between 3.6 and 4.7 per thousand women, compared to the EU average of 4.4. [16]

There are no legal restrictions on women travelling from Malta to other countries or territories to receive an abortion. While abortion has been legal in Italy since 1978, around 80% of medical professionals in Southern Italy and a majority in other Italian regions (as of 2016) objected to providing abortions on grounds of conscience. [29]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abortion in the United Kingdom</span> Overview of the legality and prevalence of abortions in the United Kingdom

Abortion in the United Kingdom is de facto available under the terms of the Abortion Act 1967 in Great Britain and the Abortion (No.2) Regulations 2020 in Northern Ireland. The procurement of an abortion remains a criminal offence in Great Britain under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, although the Abortion Act provides a legal defence for both the pregnant woman and her doctor in certain cases. Although a number of abortions did take place before the 1967 Act, there have been around 10 million abortions in the United Kingdom. Around 200,000 abortions are carried out in England and Wales each year and just under 14,000 in Scotland; the most common reason cited under the ICD-10 classification system for around 98% of all abortions is "risk to woman's mental health."

Abortion in Ireland is regulated by the Health Act 2018. Abortion is permitted in Ireland during the first twelve weeks of pregnancy, and later in cases where the pregnant woman's life or health is at risk, or in the cases of a fatal foetal abnormality. Abortion services commenced on 1 January 2019, following its legalisation by the aforementioned Act, which became law on 20 December 2018. Previously, the 8th Constitutional Amendment had given the life of the unborn foetus the same value as that of its mother, but the 36th constitutional amendment, approved by referendum in May 2018, replaced this with a clause permitting the Oireachtas (parliament) to legislate for the termination of pregnancies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abortion in Canada</span> Overview of the legality and prevalence of abortions in Canada

Abortion in Canada is legal throughout pregnancy and is publicly funded as a medical procedure under the combined effects of the federal Canada Health Act and provincial health-care systems. However, access to services and resources varies by region. While some restrictions exist, Canada is one of the few nations with no criminal restrictions on abortion. Abortion is subject to provincial healthcare regulatory rules and guidelines for physicians. No provinces offer abortion on request at 24 weeks and beyond, although there are exceptions for certain medical complications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unborn Victims of Violence Act</span> Law that recognizes an embryo or fetus as a legal victim

The Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004 is a United States law that recognizes an embryo or fetus in utero as a legal victim, if they are injured or killed during the commission of any of over 60 listed federal crimes of violence. The law defines "child in utero" as "a member of the species Homo sapiens, at any stage of development, who is carried in the womb."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abortion law</span> Laws that allow, prohibit, or regulate abortion

Abortion laws vary widely among countries and territories, and have changed over time. Such laws range from abortion being freely available on request, to regulation or restrictions of various kinds, to outright prohibition in all circumstances. Many countries and territories that allow abortion have gestational limits for the procedure depending on the reason; with the majority being up to 12 weeks for abortion on request, up to 24 weeks for rape, incest, or socioeconomic reasons, and more for fetal impairment or risk to the woman's health or life. As of 2022, countries that legally allow abortion on request or for socioeconomic reasons comprise about 60% of the world's population. In 2024, France became the first country to explicitly protect abortion rights in its constitution.

Abortion in Australia is legal at all stages of pregnancy. There are no federal abortion laws, and full decriminalisation of the procedure has been enacted in all jurisdictions. Access to abortion varies between the states and territories: surgical abortions are readily available on request within the first 22 to 24 weeks of pregnancy in most jurisdictions, and up to 16 weeks in Tasmania. Later term abortions can be obtained with the approval of two doctors, although the Australian Capital Territory only requires a single physician's approval.

Fetal rights are the moral rights or legal rights of the human fetus under natural and civil law. The term fetal rights came into wide usage after Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark case that legalized abortion in the United States. The concept of fetal rights has evolved to include the issues of maternal substance use disorders, including alcohol use disorder and opioid use disorder. Most international human rights charters "clearly reject claims that human rights should attach from conception or any time before birth." While international human rights instruments lack a universal inclusion of the fetus as a person for the purposes of human rights, the fetus is granted various rights in the constitutions and civil codes of several countries.

Abortion is illegal in El Salvador. The law formerly permitted an abortion to be performed under some limited circumstances, but in 1998 all exceptions were removed when a new abortion law went into effect.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abortion in Andorra</span>

Abortion in Andorra is illegal in all cases; the Co-Princes of Andorra are the President of France and the Bishop of Urgell, who is required to adhere to Roman Catholic teaching on pregnancy. Around 88% of its population identifies as Roman Catholic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abortion in Colombia</span>

Abortion in Colombia is freely available on request up to the 24th week of pregnancy, due to a ruling by the Constitutional Court on February 21, 2022. Later in pregnancy, it is only allowed in cases of risk of death to the pregnant woman, fetal malformation, or rape, according to a Constitutional Court ruling in 2006.

Child destruction is the name of a statutory offence in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, Hong Kong and in some parts of Australia.

Abortion in Belgium was fully legalised on 4 April 1990, following the temporary resignation of King Baudouin on grounds of conscience.

Abortion in Liechtenstein is illegal in most circumstances with limited exceptions in cases where the life of the pregnant woman is at risk, or where the pregnancy has resulted from a sexual offence. Religion in Liechtenstein is mainly Roman Catholic, which is reflected in the faith of the ruling Princely House of Liechtenstein and in the country's laws and culture around pregnancy.

Foeticide, or feticide, is the act of killing a fetus, or causing a miscarriage. Definitions differ between legal and medical applications, whereas in law, feticide frequently refers to a criminal offense, in medicine the term generally refers to a part of an abortion procedure in which a provider intentionally induces fetal demise to avoid the chance of an unintended live birth, or as a standalone procedure in the case of selective reduction.

Forced abortion is a form of reproductive coercion that refers to the act of compelling a woman to undergo termination of a pregnancy against her will or without explicit consent. Forced abortion may also be defined as coerced abortion, and may occur due to a variety of outside forces such as societal pressure, or due to intervention by perpetrators such as an intimate partner, parental guardian, medical practitioners, or others who may cause abortion by force, threat or coercion. It may also occur by taking advantage of a situation where a pregnant individual is unable to give consent, or when valid consent is in question due to duress. This may also include the instances when the conduct was neither justified by medical or hospital treatment, which does not include instances in which the pregnant individual is at risk of life threatening injury due to unsustainable pregnancy. Similar to other forms of reproductive coercion such as forced sterilization, forced abortion may include a physical invasion of female reproductive organs, therefore creating the possibly of causing long term threat or injury preventing viable future pregnancies. Forced abortion is considered a human rights violation by the United Nations due to its failure to comply with the human right to reproductive choice and control without coercion, discrimination, and violence.

Abortion in Uganda is illegal unless performed by a licensed medical doctor in a situation where the woman's life is deemed to be at risk.

Abortion in Samoa is only legal if the abortion will save the mother's life or preserve her physical or mental health and only when the gestation period is less than 20 weeks. In Samoa, if an abortion is performed on a woman for any other reason, or if a woman performs a self-induced abortion, the violator is subject to seven years in prison.

Abortion is a controversial topic in Nigeria. Abortion in Nigeria is governed by two laws that differ depending on geographical location. Northern Nigeria is governed by The Penal Code and Southern Nigeria is governed by The Criminal Code. The only legal way to have an abortion in Nigeria is if having the child is going to put the mother's life in danger. However, sex-selective abortion has long had acceptance in Nigeria.

Abortion in Ghana is banned except when there is a vaild exemption. The abortion should also be conducted only at a Government hospital; registered private hospital, clinics registered under the Private Hospitals and Maternity Homes Act, 1958 and a place approved by the Minister of Health by a Legislative Instrument. Illegal abortions are criminal offenses subject to at most five years in prison for the pregnant woman who induced said abortion, as well as for any doctor or other person who assisted this pregnant woman in accessing, or carrying out, an abortion. Attempts to cause abortions are also criminal, as are the purveyance, supply, or procurement of chemicals and instruments whose intent is to induce abortions.

Abortion in Ohio is legal on request up to the point of fetal viability. After viability, abortion is legal if, in the professional judgement of an attending physician, the abortion is necessary to protect the pregnant individual’s life or health.

References

  1. ↑ AP (2023-06-28). "Malta to allow abortion but only when woman's life is at risk". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2023-12-05.
  2. ↑ Centre for Reproductive Rights (June 2022). "European Abortion Laws: An Overview" (PDF). reproductiverights.org.
  3. ↑ See table in Abortion in Europe for a full outline of abortion laws by jurisdiction in Europe.
  4. ↑ "Doctors praise protocol for [treatment of] ectopic pregnancies after woman's claims".
  5. ↑ "Malta rebuked again over blanket abortion ban".
  6. ↑ Caruana-Finkel, Liza (2020). "Abortion in the time of COVID-19: perspectives from Malta". Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters. 28 (1): 1780679. doi: 10.1080/26410397.2020.1780679 . PMC   7888021 . PMID   32516072.
  7. ↑ Criminal Code of Malta, Article 241. Valletta, Malta: Government of Malta. p. 122. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  8. ↑ Criminal Code of Malta, Articles 242-243. Valletta, Malta: Government of Malta. p. 122. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  9. ↑ Criminal Code of Malta, Article 218. Valletta, Malta: Government of Malta. p. 113. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  10. ↑ Criminal Code (Amendment) Act 2002. Valletta, Malta: Government of Malta. 2002. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Criminal Code of Malta, Article 243B. Valletta, Malta: Government of Malta. p. 113. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  12. ↑ "Document 12003T/PRO/07". Eur-Lex. Official Journal of the European Union. 23 September 2003. Retrieved 7 April 2024. Nothing in the Treaty on European Union, or in the Treaties establishing the European Communities, or in the Treaties or Acts modifying or supplementing those Treaties, shall affect the application in the territory of Malta of national legislation relating to abortion.
  13. ↑ "Plans for abortion law to be entrenched in Constitution". Times of Malta. May 7, 2005.
  14. ↑ Constitution of Malta. Valletta, Malta: Government of Malta. 2022. p. 11.
  15. ↑ "Malta Charter on the Dignity, Rights, Protection and Development of the Unborn Child". Unborn Child Malta. Movement for the Rights, Protection and Development of the Unborn Child (Malta). 2007. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  16. 1 2 3 "300 to 400 Maltese Women Go Abroad For An Abortion Each Year". Times of Malta. February 4, 2018.
  17. ↑ "Malta MP tables historic bill to decriminalise abortion". www.euractiv.com. 13 May 2021. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  18. ↑ "MP Marlene Farrugia presents bill to decriminalise abortion". Times of Malta. Retrieved 2021-05-12.
  19. ↑ Ltd, MediaToday Co. "Godfrey and Marlene Farrugia resign from Partit Demokratiku". MaltaToday. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  20. ↑ "Volt Malta becomes Malta's first pro-choice political party - The Malta Independent". www.independent.com.mt. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  21. ↑ "Criminal Code (Amendment No. 3) Bill" (PDF). www.parliament.mt. Parliament of Malta. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  22. ↑ "An Act to further amend the Criminal Code, Cap. 9. Bill No. 28 - A Position Paper" (PDF). www.salvani.eu. Inti Tista' Ssalvani. 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  23. ↑ Diacono, Tim (4 December 2022). "Watch: Huge Pro-Life Protest In Valletta As Estimated 20,000 Protest Against Abortion Law". www.lovinmalta.com. Lovin Malta. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  24. ↑ Dimech, minn Tony. "Il-Kap tal-Oppożizzjoni jgħid li l-Gvern qed ibexxaq il-bieb għall-abort". TVMnews.mt. Retrieved 2022-11-27.
  25. ↑ "Speak out against attempts to introduce 'abortion', Bernard Grech urges". Times of Malta. Retrieved 2022-11-27.
  26. ↑ Vella, Sasha (2022-09-27). "Malta's First Pro-Choice Party Volt Reiterates Call For Legalisation Of Abortion". Lovin Malta. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  27. ↑ DeBono, Alexia. "Stop taking people for a ride". MaltaToday.com.mt. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  28. ↑ Magri, Guilia (2023-06-23). "Pro-life relief, pro-choice dismay: reactions to changed abortion bill" . Retrieved 2023-07-29.
  29. ↑ Tamma, Paola (24 May 2018). "Even where abortion is legal, access is not granted". VoxEurop/EDJNet. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
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