The statement went on to reference the case of Andrea Prudente – an American woman who needed an abortion while in Malta on holiday. She was denied the procedure and told to wait for her body to naturally expel the foetus or for her to develop a life-threatening infection. Instead, she was airlifted to Spain.

My Voice, My Choice campaigns for safe and accessible abortion for anyone in the EU, specifically the 20 million women across the EU who do not have access to safe abortion care – including around 500 women in Malta each year.

“My Voice, My Choice is about giving women back control over their lives and ensuring no one is left to suffer without care,” My Voice, My Choice campaign leader Nika Kovǎc said.

The European Citizens’ Initiative is an official petition by EU citizens, demanding EU legislation to create a financial mechanism that helps Member States that voluntarily join this policy to provide safe abortion care for those who don’t have access to it.

Once it reaches one million signatures, the European Commission will consider proposing such a mechanism to the European Parliament and the European Council. It will then have to be debated and potentially amended by the two institutions with the latter requiring unanimous agreement among all member states. It currently has more than 900,000 signatures. Maltese and EU citizens can support the My Voice, My Choice initiative by signing it online.

To reach the Malta threshold, 4,230 Maltese citizens need to sign the initiative. Currently, more than 2,000 have signed, online and in person.

The legislation would provide financial support to women in Malta who need an abortion, like Maria*, who had a cancerous fibroid in her uterus during her pregnancy. Had she not been able to afford to travel abroad, she would have died giving birth, leaving her two children orphaned.

“As the baby was growing, so was the cancer,” she said to the publication Dear Decision Makers in 2022. Her choice was clear: “The cancer… it was killing me and the foetus. My thoughts were with my two other children rather than with the foetus. According to “pro-life” I should have sacrificed my life for the foetus’ life and left my children orphaned.”

Or Nicole*, who lost her virginity to rape at the age of 17. She went to help a schoolmate with his homework, who ended up forcefully penetrating her. “His desire quickly took over and no matter how much I tried to push him off, he pulled down my pants and forcefully penetrated me,” she told the publication. “It hurt a hell of a lot, but I couldn’t get out from under him.”

When she missed her period and a pregnancy test turned positive, she didn’t know what to do. “This was the pre-internet information age… I couldn’t look up this stuff.” Thinking she couldn’t visit a gynaecologist, she binged on alcohol and swallowed painkillers instead. Once the cramps became unbearable and she noticed a loss of blood, she went to the Floriana clinic. The gynaecologist she saw claimed that “women don’t get pregnant from rape” and that they “report rape for insurance purposes”.

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