Government considering preventing doctors from reporting women who had abortions

Government is considering changes to the Professional Secrecy Act to ensure that doctors don’t report women seeking post-abortion medical care without their explicit consent. 

Abela was speaking on ONE Radio a few days after a woman was handed a 22-month prison sentence suspended for two years after having an abortion. 

The 28-year-old woman had gone to hospital after experiencing pain, where she informed doctors that she had an abortion after purchasing pills from the internet. 

Abela acknowledged that many had believed such legal consequences were unlikely, adding that the sentence shows that many Maltese women who use abortion pills often face medical complications afterward. 

However, fear of legal repercussions discourages them from seeking necessary hospital care, which puts their health and lives at risk.

Abela stressed that the government does not plan to change Malta’s abortion law or even opt for decriminalisation, instead proposing limiting doctors’ ability to report patients unless the woman agrees.

In 2023, government tried and failed to protect women’s health, instead opting to give doctors the ability to terminate pregnancies if a woman’s health is in grave danger and could lead to her death.

On Saturday, Abela defended the controversial planning reforms, claiming that the new laws are expected to provide greater legal certainty and fairness in planning and appeal processes. 

On regularisation of illegal developments, Abela said the new regulations aim to provide peace of mind, not punishment. 

While Abela was speaking on ONE, his predecessor, Joseph Muscat described government’s handling of the changes as “a complete mess.”

Abela also discussed new agricultural land regulations introduced to support food security. The reform requires land registration and annual maintenance, such as ploughing, but will not interfere with family use of the land. In cases where land ownership is unclear, the government will attempt to identify the rightful owner before allowing farmers to use it.