Labour MP Jean Claude Micallef said Malta’s police work on people getting abortions abroad is not limited to prosecution in the wake of a row over his statements on the controversial topic.

“My role as a backbencher is to scrutinise the government’s work. It is my duty to ask and at no time did I call or order the Police to take criminal action against anyone.”

“I’m also aware of the limits of territorial jurisdiction, where police work in every case is not limited to just prosecution.”

“I am against abortion wherever it happens. For me the protection of the unborn child is inevitable,” Micallef wrote on social media.

The issue emerged yesterday following the news that at leats 58 women a year get an abortion in the UK. In a previous social media post, Micallef said:

“The argument shouldn’t be whether a woman had an abortion in Malta or abroad. Wherever it happens, it happens. In Maltese law it is a criminal act.”

“The argument should be are the police handling those involved in these crimes in our country and beyond?”

This came after MEP Alfred Sant confirmed that he is pro-choice leaning, and warned that politicians are aware of scenarios where abortion is justified but won’t say so publicly. He said the legalisation of abortion in Malta is inevitable.

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