Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1533084
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 9 MARCH 2025 4 INTERVIEW Isabel Stabile: 'Keeping abortion illegal is not deterring women' Nearly 600 women in Malta had abor- tions last year, reflecting a 15% in- crease from the previous year, which had already seen a 20% rise compared to the year before. These numbers represent a reality check for Malta, Prof. Isabel Stabile, an academic and pro-choice activist, tells me as we sit down for this interview. "So, we can safely say that the law as it stands is not working. It is not a de- terrent for women… with our abortion doula service, we get calls on a daily ba- sis," she says. "In fact, I had a call just this morning, and I expect I'll have at least one more today. We do get approximately one to three calls every single day," Stabile tells me. Abortion remains illegal in Malta with the changes enacted in 2023 on- ly meant to give doctors the legal cer- tainty that they can terminate a preg- nancy if the woman's life is in danger. The original Bill had also included an exemption for circumstances where the woman's health is at risk but this was eventually dropped from the final wording. Stabile does not hide her disappoint- ment with the law as approved. "We believed that our politicians were lis- tening to our advice because our ad- vice was coming from the ground," she says. She argues that by excluding both mental and physical health considera- tions, the law only applies to extreme cases, leaving many women without access to necessary care. Reacting to the political shift in Eu- rope, particularly with conservative parties gaining influence, Stabile ex- presses concern that abortion rights could be threatened. She says that Mal- ta effectively "exports" its abortion-re- lated issues, particularly by sending women with fatal foetal anomalies to other countries where abortion is legal. "Without access to these outlets, women in Malta may be forced to con- tinue unwanted pregnancies, some of which already do," she says. Academic and pro-choice activist Prof. Isabel Stabile sits down with Laura Calleja to discuss the current landscape of women's reproductive rights, as well as the challenges facing doctors and activists, and the potential progress in this area. There is a certain understanding from parts of our political class. I won't say it's across the board, but large parts of our political class are privately in favour of abortion