On Sunday, protesters gathered outside the office of Malta’s prime minister with a sizable image of an unborn child, urging the government to abandon efforts to change the nation’s stringent anti-abortion laws.
The largest demonstration in years drew thousands of participants, including Malta’s top Catholic priest and the head of the conservative opposition, but it was spearheaded by Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, a former president of the centre-left.
One of the speakers at the demonstration, Maria Formosa, a 19-year-old college student, said, “We are here to be the voice of the unborn child.” “Through abortion, life is always lost.”
Some of those present carried placards reading slogans such as “Keep abortion out of Malta” and “Protect our children”. They also chanted “No to abortion, yes to life.”
The only nation in the European Union that forbids abortion under any circumstances, including when a woman’s life or health is at risk due to her pregnancy, is traditionally Catholic Malta.
Last Monday, Chris Fearne, the minister of health, introduced a bill in parliament that would prohibit doctors from risking up to four years in prison if their treatment of seriously ill women results in the termination of a pregnancy.
No doctor has been charged with such a crime as of yet.
The centre-right opposition, the influential Catholic Church, and some NGOs have argued that the modification is unnecessary and will lead to a complete liberalization of abortion; the government’s centre-left Labour party has refuted this assertion.
Despite having a sizable majority and little internal disagreement, Prime Minister Robert Abela’s administration is opposed to abortion by a wide majority of people, especially older people.
In reaction to the demonstration on Sunday, no one from the government spoke.
The decision to alter abortion laws was made as a result of the denial of Andrea Prudente’s request to end a non-viable pregnancy in June after she started bleeding heavily.
She was eventually sent to Spain, where she underwent an abortion after her physicians declared that she was in danger of dying. Later, she filed a lawsuit against the Maltese government, requesting that the courts rule that prohibiting abortion in any situation is against human rights.
A trial in the case has not yet taken place.
