Abortion in Malta

The de-jure legal status of Abortion in Malta holds that the practice is illegal, however, as with other European nations, de-facto procedures differ to the exact letter of the law.

The Criminal Code states: "(1) Whosoever, by any food, drink, medicine, or by violence, or by any other means whatsoever, shall cause the miscarriage of any woman with child, whether the woman be consenting or not, shall, on conviction, be liable to imprisonment for a term from 18 months to three years;” and “(2) The same punishment shall be awarded against any woman who shall procure her own miscarriage, or who shall have consented to the use of the means by which the miscarriage is procured."^[1]

In the extremely rare situations that a mother's life is actually threatened by the emergence of a pregnancy, abortive procedures have been performed within Maltese territory with no repercussions. Such has also occurred in cases of incest and rape. In the case of Amanda Cremona-Psaila, for example, the police department were notified by officials at Mater Dei Hospital that a gynecologist and university professor had performed a chemical abortion to prevent the mother suffering a cancer relapse, which the hormonal changes common to a pregnancy were sure to cause. No action was taken on behalf of the police department, which retain the jurisdiction to press charges for criminal offences as they see fit.^[2]

References

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