Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1512911
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 10 DECEMBER 2023 7 INTERVIEW The following are excerpts from the interview. The full interview can be found on maltatoday.com.mt as well as our Facebook and Spotify pages. How did it feel to see yourself on the BBC top 100 list of the most influ- ential women? Well, it was a big surprise. I was not expecting it. Actually, some- one from the media contacted me that morning and said, 'Do you know that you're on this list?'. It was massive news. I had known about the nomination because the BBC had gotten in contact with me a few months back, but they never told me whether I actually made it on the list or not. It's a great honour and I think it's an honour that I share with my fellow pro-choice activists who have been working for so many years on this. The achievement comes a year after the government floated its initial amend- ment to the abortion laws. Was it disappointing when, a year later, the government tabled a wa- tered-down version of the same amendment? Let's be very clear about this - Bill 28 does not protect women, it pro- tects doctors. Before the bill came through, doctors were carrying out abortions and terminations of preg- nancy. When the woman's life was at risk, they would do it at their own dis- cretion and do whatever is needed. With this new law, now we have to wait for three doctors with very specific specialties. You need the gynaecologist taking care of the of the patient, you need another gynaecologist, probably the one who would be carrying out the procedure, and a specialist within the condition that the woman is suffering from. And we need these three doctors to agree between themselves. And then the proce- dure can be carried out, all while the woman is at risk. It's a nightmare, and it was so dis- appointing to see a decently good bill which would protect women, even in cases of serious health problems. Is asking for information on abortion illegal in Malta? Providing information is never il- legal. Nowadays you can find any information you want about abor- tion in a medical textbook, which you can buy in a local bookshop. You can find information about abortion on the internet. So, in- formation is never illegal, and we aim to provide this information to those who need it. This is why Prof. Isabel Stabile and I have set up the abortion doula service helpline, where every day we speak to wom- en who are having abortions. We provide information before these people have abortions, and even during the process. Sometimes they call us saying that they're in a lot of pain or they're seeing a lot of blood, or they took the pills, and they vomited soon after. We're trying to provide support to these people because they're un- dergoing a medical procedure on their own, with possible complica- tions. Generally, a medical abor- tion is quite safe, however com- plications can arise, and we don't want a situation where a woman is too terrified to go to hospital be- cause she might be reported, and so she bleeds to death at home. The government has been planning to update the national sexual health policy for years, but it hasn't been launched yet. What do you think is caus- ing the delay? It's obvious that sexual health and reproductive health is not high on the list for policymakers, because otherwise we would have had an updated sexual policy much ear- lier. Thankfully, it's happening now, and I know that that some studies have been carried out to help it be a bit more relevant to today's needs. I'm hoping that we see some improvements, because if you want to prevent abortions, what you need to do is have a ba- sic solid sex education in schools, which is why I authored a book for 10- to 13-year-olds about sex ed- ucation, published by Doctors for Choice. It's also disappointing to see that it has not been taken up by schools, because the Education Depart- ment has asked teachers not to use it. I'm not sure why because it does not mention abortion. However, it does mention different types of contraception, which is another thing which could prevent abor- tions. Once you have free contra- ception and good sex education in schools, then you can start pre- venting abortions. Right now, what we can see is one-track journey for women to get pregnant, because they don't know what they're doing, or they're not taught how to take care of themselves. We don't provide contraception for free, and then once you get pregnant, you can't stop that pregnancy. It's quite bleak for women in Malta. PHOTOS: JAMES BIANCHI / MALTA TODAY