Currently, doctors who perform abortions in Malta face up to four years in prison and a lifetime ban from practicing their profession.
Malta’s Health Minister Chris Fern has introduced a bill that relaxes the island nation’s strict ban on abortion, allowing termination of pregnancy if the life of the mother or child is at risk.
The end of the last outright ban in the European Union has been hailed by abortion rights campaigners as a victory for women’s rights, although it is still incomplete.
“It is a long-awaited development for women in Malta,” Desiree Attar, a human rights activist and lawyer, told AFP.
Currently, doctors who perform abortions face up to four years in prison and a lifetime ban from practicing their profession.
According to the bill, which also needs to be approved by Parliament, an abortion will be legal if it “aims to protect the health of a pregnant woman suffering from a medical complication that may put her life or health at serious risk”.
“For the first time, we have a bill that recognizes our antiquated legal framework and tries to change it, even if only in a small way,” commented Desiree Attar.
However, doctor Isabelle Stabile, a member of the NGO “Doctors for Choice”, regrets “that there is still no provision allowing the termination of pregnancy in case of rape, incest or fatal fetal abnormality”.
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