Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1508764
2 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 1 OCTOBER 2023 NEWS KURT SANSONE PRO-CHOICE activists gath- ered in Valletta on Saturday in a show of solidarity with Maltese women who had abortions in secret because Malta's law crim- inalises them. People rallied in Valletta's main street behind the banner Every- one Loves Someone Who Has Had An Abortion, the theme chosen for this year's Interna- tional Safe Abortion Day. Activists carried placards with various messages, including one that played on the Labour Party electoral slogan of 2013 (Malta Tagħna Lkoll): 'Għoxxi mhux tagħna lkoll (My vagina is not everyone else's)'. The activists called for the de- criminalisation of abortion and for this to be provided as a ser- vice in the healthcare system. They also called for "inclusive and comprehensive" sex educa- tion and the provision of family planning services. Among those who attended were Labour MP Randolph De Battista and his partner Cyrus Engerer, an MEP. The rally ended in front of the law courts where Andrea Dib- ben from the Women's Rights Foundation recalled the prose- cution of a vulnerable mother some months ago for carrying out a medical abortion at home. The mother of a small child was a victim of domestic vio- lence and was reported to the police by her partner. The wom- an admitted and was handed down a three-year conditional discharge. "For us you are not a criminal. You are our sister. You are one of us. Whoever you are, wherev- er you are, we are angry and dis- gusted with what you had to go through and you have our sup- port and solidarity," Dibben said. But she also took a pot shot at politicians whom she accused of "burying their heads in the sand" and treating women as "second class citizens". Dibben blasted the changes to Malta's Criminal Code earlier this year, which for the first time reformed the law that criminal- ises abortion. The final version of the amendments put forward by the government allow doc- tors to terminate a pregnancy if a woman's life is at risk and if her health is in 'grave jeopardy that may lead to death'. The changes were approved by parliament, but the government came under fire from pro-choice activists who felt the law was simply preserving the status quo. Government's original amend- ment was to allow an abortion to take place if a 'woman's life or health are at risk', allowing wider leeway for doctors to intervene if a pregnancy was going to have a debilitating impact on a wom- an's health. However, government caved in to pressure from pro-life ac- tivists and other conservative forces, who were also support- ed by the Opposition. President George Vella had also threat- ened to resign if the original proposal passed through par- liament. Government eventu- ally watered down its original proposal despite Prime Minister Robert Abela having said several times that protecting women's health was non-negotiable. Dibben called out Abela's hy- pocrisy when earlier this year he expressed "discomfort" over the arraignment of the woman, who performed an abortion. This was just before the final amendment to the law was made public. "We are here today to convey a clear message that if there are those who are feeling uncom- fortable with our presence in the middle of Valletta, because our presence reminds them that women in Malta are treated as second class citizens… we are not going anywhere," she said. "We will continue to be more vocal, to call out your hypocrisy when you say that you feel 'un- comfortable' that a vulnerable woman is brought to court and less than a month later you pass a law that plunges us further into the patriarchy." Cynthia Chircop, coordinator of MGRM, the LGBTIQ rights movement, dwelt on the "par- adox" of Malta's civil rights re- Pro-choice activists hold abortion rally