More than 130 doctors file an appeal against the abortion ban

Some 135 Maltese doctors filed a legal challenge on Monday against the ban on abortion on this small island, where women risk up to three years in prison in the event of an abortion. Filed, among others, against the Prime Minister and the Minister of Health, the appeal requests the abolition of an article of the Penal Code providing for up to four years in prison and a lifetime ban on practicing for doctors practicing abortions.

This Penal Code provision “prevents doctors from providing immediate and timely care, and this delay endangers the lives and health of pregnant women,” the document reads. The doctors behind the appeal are now hoping for a trial to plead their case. According to the NGO Doctors for Choice, which campaigns for the legalization of abortion, they represent around 5% of doctors on the Mediterranean island.

A recent case that sparked protests

Their move comes about a week after a Maltese hospital refused to abort an American tourist suffering from complications related to her pregnancy. The incident sparked protests in Malta and drew international attention to the laws of the predominantly Catholic country, the only one in the European Union that completely bans abortions.

Andrea Prudente, 38, was on holiday there when her water broke after heavy bleeding during her 16th week of pregnancy. The baby had no chance of surviving, but doctors refused to intervene. Her husband, Jay Weeldreyer, said doctors were waiting for her to have a natural miscarriage, for the baby’s heartbeat to stop or “for her to have a life-threatening infection” that would prompt them to act. Concerned about the risk of sepsis, the couple were eventually flown to Spain, where the woman received treatment, according to Jay Weeldreyer.