A women’s rights rally was held in Valletta this week. Photo credit: Moviment Graffitti 

The Women’s Rights Foundation has reported a man to the police after he posted a series of death threats on Facebook in the wake of the Foundation’s call for Malta to provide safe and legal abortion.

The man in question had commented under a Times of Malta article that “I have a bullet ready for those killers”. He also got into an argument with a women’s rights activist on MaltaToday’s Facebook page, posting threatening comments such as “people that play with fire get burnt!! And I am ready to burn” and “I THREATEN CHILD KILLERS AND ITS NOT A THREAT ITS A PROMISE”.

When asked straight out whether he is threatening to kill the women’s rights activists, the man coyly responded that “you donkeys will get the answer to that when the time is right”.

Lovin Malta isn’t publishing the man’s name so as to protect his identity, but his Facebook profile states that he is retired and WRF founder Lara Dimitrijevic confirmed the police are now investigating his comments.  

Malta’s abortion laws are among the most restrictive in the world and are backed by the entire political class and, according to a recent MaltaToday survey, by the vast majority of the Maltese public.

Nevertheless, the WRF stuck its neck out yesterday and called on Malta to legalise abortion in four specific circumstances – when a woman’s life is at risk, to preserve women’s physical and mental health, in cases of rape or incest, and in cases of severe fatal foetal impairment. 

The WRF warned the current state of play means Maltese women who access abortion abroad or through telemedicine risk criminal proceedings if they access local health services for possible post-abortion complications.

“We received mixed feedback after coming out with that proposal,” Dimitrijevic told Lovin Malta. “Obviously, the online comments are what they are but we also received several encouraging messages of support. I think a lot of people support these proposals in secret but are scared to speak out. What I can say is that these threats won’t intimidate me.”

Apart from the abortion proposal, the WRF yesterday also urged the government to subside contraception, guarantee the practical availability of long-acting reversible contraceptives, set up sexual health clinics and develop family, school and community-based sexual health education and awareness programmes. 

Should Malta legalise abortion? Let us know what you think in the comments section 

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Tim Diacono

Tim is interested in the rapid evolution of human society and is passionate about justice, human rights and cutting-edge political debates. You can follow him on Instagram or Twitter/X at @timdiacono or reach out to him at [email protected]