On abortion rights, Malta is Europe’s laggard

It comes as no surprise that Malta ranked second from the bottom among 53 European countries in the European Abortion Policy Atlas 2025 released this week.

Malta scored 3.7%, placing it just above Andorra (0%) and below Poland (18.6%). This marks a small increase from Malta’s 2021 score of 0%, which reflected a total ban on abortion with no legal exceptions.

The minor improvement is down to the 2023 legislative changes that codified the exception allowing abortion when a woman’s life is at risk, provided there is agreement from three medical specialists. The final wording approved by parliament had dropped the exception that had formed part of the original proposal to allow an abortion if the woman’s health was at risk.

The Atlas is produced by the European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual and Reproductive Rights (EPF) and the International Planned Parenthood Federation European Network (IPPF EN). It evaluates countries and territories based on legal frameworks, service availability, and access to information.

Abortion is considered a criminal offence in Malta, and the woman and the doctors treating her risk being sent to prison. The latter also face the prospect of losing their warrant.

Only this year, a woman was given a suspended sentence after admitting to carrying out a medical abortion at home by using pills she sourced from abroad. The woman had sought medical assistance after experiencing abnormal bleeding and informed doctors that she had an abortion. She was subsequently reported to the police and charged.

This woman is just one of the 600 women in Malta who every year have an abortion—at home by buying pills from abroad or travelling to other countries.

The truth is that Malta’s restrictive law is not stopping Maltese women from having abortions; it’s just forcing them to do so in silence, in fear and alone. The current state of affairs makes it very hard for women to seek medical treatment if they face complications

after an abortion out of fear that they will be reported and criminally charged.

The situation is unfair on women in Malta, who continue to be deprived of the choice to terminate a pregnancy even if their health is at stake.

Ironically, the Atlas shows how tiny Gibraltar’s score jumped from 8% in 2021 to 58.6% after the territory effectively depenalised abortion, allowing it within the first 12 weeks if the woman’s “mental or physical health is at risk” and after 12 weeks if her life is at risk. San Marino, another minnow state, also saw its score surge from 22% in 2021 to 60% following a referendum in which 77% of voters supported fully decriminalising abortion.

But perhaps, the most relevant for Malta is Ireland—a predominantly catholic nation like Malta—where the score increased to 66.3% in 2025 from 63.5% in 2021. Ireland had a constitutional ban on abortion, which was scrapped in a 2018 referendum. Subsequently, Leo Varadkar’s centre-right government at the time putting forward legislation allowing abortion on demand up to the 12th week of pregnancy.

The Irish experience was also characterised by significant milestones. One of these was a momentous decision by the European Court of Human Rights that argued women had a right to receive information about abortion irrespective of whether it was illegal or not in the country. Stifling information would breach their right to freedom of expression, the court ruled.

Unfortunately, looking at the Atlas, Malta fails on practically every count. It remains the only EU state where women cannot access abortion safely and without fear of prosecution. There is no appetite at the political level to even discuss depenalisation or decriminalisation of abortion let alone its introduction as a healthcare choice. Progress in this area remains stunted with women unable to choose what to do with their bodies, their health and their life.