Fake abortion pills targeting Maltese women on Facebook, activists warn

Facebook pages selling unregulated and potentially unsafe “abortion pills” in Malta have sprung up on the internet.

Abortion is prohibited in Malta, but women seeking terminations would often circumvent the ban by travelling abroad to foreign abortion clinics. The cessation of passenger flights to and from the island, as a result of COVID-19 restrictions, has provided an opportunity for the criminally unscrupulous to make a profit.

In a Facebook post, the Women’s Rights Foundation reported six local Facebook pages as offering abortion pills for sale online.  All the pages were created between the end of March and today. 

The foundation warned that such businesses were unreliable and dangerous.

“This is exactly what happens when abortion laws, like the ones in Malta, especially now when flights are grounded – allow crooks and criminals to prey on the most vulnerable and marginalized women," said the organisation.

"The state, in all its righteousness, is exposing women in Malta to serious risks,” it said, urging readers to report the links to Facebook.