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Lara Dimitrijevic Files Judicial Protest Against Health Minister And Reforms Junior Minister Over Malta’s Abortion Ban

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Lawyer Lara Dimitrijevic, on behalf of the Women’s Rights Foundation, has filed a judicial protest against a number of authoritative bodies over Malta’s blanket ban on abortion.

The judicial protest was filed against Minister for Health Chris Fearne, the Parliamentary Secretary for Equality and Reforms Rebecca Buttigieg, and State Advocate Christopher Soler.

The Women’s Rights Foundation filed the judicial protest on behalf of 188 women and persons that can get pregnant, with a press conference held in front of the Law Courts in Valletta.

“In fact, as we all know, every day a woman in Malta has an abortion, and Malta is the only country in the EU that criminalizes these women and prevents the procedure from being done safely and legally, regardless of the – circumstances,” they said during the press conference. 

Read the demands made in the judicial protest in full below:

That the protestants are women and people of various ages and can all potentially get pregnant since they are of childbearing age;

That the protestants feel aggrieved by the fact that Malta not only has a total ban on abortion, but also due to the fact that abortion is criminalised;

That this prohibition has a direct impact on their quality of life, including the prohibition of making decisions about their health, family, future and their general well-being as well as being precluded from their right to bodily autonomy;

That this prohibition is precluding them from accessing their health care, given that if for any reason, they would want to terminate their future pregnancies, they cannot access medical health care in the fear that they would be criminalised and that they neither can seek medical attention from the doctors of their choice since they too can potentially be criminalised as professionals and/or the protestants can be reported to the authorities by medical professionals;

That abortion care can be accessed in a safe manner by those that have the financial means to travel outside Malta to countries where it is legal, whilst those that do not have the financial means can only access abortion care in a clandestine and illegal manner, by buying the pills online and with the continuous fear that they would face criminal proceedings if caught;

That this prohibition and criminalisation is further exposing the protestants to inhuman and degrading treatment in such a way that those of who among the protestants have terminated their pregnancies are now living in fear, humiliation and the total ban is causing an impact on their mental health, whilst those that for whatever reason in the future would decide to terminate their pregnancies would either be forced to carry the pregnancy or would have to access clandestine measures to terminate it;

That this prohibition is also discriminatory on the basis of their sex and gender that is treating women and people who can fall pregnant in an unequal and disproportionate manner, more so when the constitution safeguards the principles of equality;

Moreover, this prohibition and criminalisation is illegitimate and amounts to a violation of the fundamental rights of the protestants, both physically and juridically and amounts to discrimination against women and people that reside in Malta, when one considers that abortion care is available in all Member States of the European Union;

That this lack of protection and access to medical care is unacceptable and tantamount to a breach of fundamental human rights of women by means of European Charter of Human Rights, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Civil and Political Rights Covenant, Disability Rights Convention, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Covenant, Convention of Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, ICPD Programme of Action, Beijing Platform for Action, as well their right to private life, discrimination and exposing them to inhuman and degrading treatment in terms of Articles 3, 8 and 14 of the European Convention of Human Rights that forms an integral part of the Maltese laws:

To this end, whereas the protestants bring these submissions to the formal knowledge of the protestees, is demanding that the protestees to decriminalise and legalize abortion without delay and holds the protestees responsible for any damages that they may suffer and from now the protestants place the protestees in dolo, colpa and mora for the effects and purposes of the law.

As it stands, Malta has the harshest abortion ban in all of Europe, making it the strictest country which punishes abortion in a criminal manner.

The blanket ban is also extremely discriminatory, as only people that afford to go abroad to get an abortion can get one as it is.

What do you make of this judicial protest? 

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Sasha is a writer, creator, and podcast host interested in environmental matters, humans, and art. Some know her as Sasha tas-Sigar. Inspired by nature and the changing world. Follow her on Instagram at @saaxhaa and send her your stories at [email protected]

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