Pro-choice coalition hang posters up at Parliament after woman charged with abortion

Pro-choice coalition Voice for Choice stuck posters on the Parliament banners in Valletta demanding the decriminalisation of abortion after PM Robert Abela said he was not comfortable with the court’s conviction of a woman charged with abortion.

The posters read ‘This Should Never Have Happened’, ‘Stajt Kont Jien’ (‘It could have been me’), and ‘Decriminalise Abortion Now’. Accompanying the posters is a purble banner with the text ‘Safe and Legal Abortion in Malta’.

In a statement, the pro-choice coalition said that it is not interested in hearing the Prime Minister’s discomfort on the matter.

“Don’t tell us about your discomfort. Tell us about how this nightmare ends. Tell us about strategies that support us. Tell us about how basic healthcare will finally be provided. Tell us what you’re going to do about it.”

Last week, a woman was charged with having a medical abortion at home, and was handed down a conditional discharge.

The court heard how the woman, who has an abusive partner, already has a young son, and did not want to have another child.

The accused pleaded guilty to the charges and was conditionally discharged for three years by Magistrate Rachel Montebello, who said a prison sentence was not in the woman's best interest.

It was also revealed that it was the woman’s partner who had reported her to the authorities.