MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th June, 2023) Maltese lawmakers on Wednesday unanimously approved legislation partially decriminalizing abortion in cases where a woman's life is at risk, local media reported.
Lawmakers approved Bill 28 to amend Malta's Criminal Code seven months after it was first sent to the country's parliament, allowing doctors to perform abortions if a woman's life is in immediate danger or her health is in "grave jeopardy which may lead to her death," The Times of Malta reported.
Abortions can only take place in licensed clinics and only once other treatments have been exhausted. The decision to carry out abortion must be taken by three specialists except in emergency cases, the report said.
Malta will still have one of the strictest abortion laws in the world even once the bill goes into effect, and abortion will remain illegal under all other circumstances, the media reported.
The Maltese government has been discussing the bill for the past seven months. The debates were sparked by the case of Andrea Prudente, a 38-year-old Maltese citizen who was denied an abortion in Malta after suffering the symptoms of a miscarriage. She was airlifted to Spain and had her pregnancy terminated there, and is now suing the Maltese state together with her husband for a breach of her rights.
The legislation will now be sent to Maltese President George Vella's desk for signing.
