Watch: ‘It Will Not Legalise Abortion’: Maltese Lawyer and Activist Clarifies New Legal Amendment
Lovin Malta sat down with Lara Dimitrijevic – prominent lawyer, activist and founder of one of Malta’s leading NGOs – to discuss some of the nation’s pressing debates.
One of which is the new abortion law amendment that has found itself in a sea of confusion which Dimitrijevic concisely clarified.
“Most definitely not,” was Dimitrijevic’s response when asked whether the bill will legalise abortion.
“There’s been a lot of misinformation that’s been spread, and misinterpretation of the actual wording. The articles of the law dealing with abortion will continue to be there, so termination of a pregnancy as is defined in the Criminal Code are to remain.”
All that’s being added, she explained, is another article clarifying something that is already longstanding practice at Mater Dei.
“It is protecting doctors,” she added.
The amendment proposes that doctors can proceed with a termination of a pregnancy under strict conditions: a pregnant person must be suffering from medical complications together with a grave risk to health and/or life.
“It’s definitely not abortion, it’s not putting abortion through the window or through a crack – it’s just clarifying an already existing medical practice.”
Previously, medical professionals followed the doctrine of double effect which has its roots in the thoughts of Thomas Aquinas (a theologian and philosopher) and it essentially states that sometimes, it is permissible to cause harm as a side effect of bringing about a good result.
However, there was no legal clarity protecting this practice and doctors could still be exposing themselves to liability, even if pregnancy termination is a causal effect of saving a woman whose life was at risk.
Therefore, the amendment is solely clarifying what already exists in order for medical professionals to not be liable for performing an abortion that could save a person’s life.
Dimitrijevic further said that the confusion is a result of the misinterpretation of the proposal.
On the one hand, there’s the pro-choice camp that is celebrating this minor triumph due to witnessing other women put in danger because of a lack of clarification while on the other, the pro-life camp is spreading a narrative that is assuming the “next step” is full-blown access to abortion care, she explained.
Consequently, there are exaggerated ideas of what the amendment truly is.
Moreover, when asked about the suggestion to hold a referendum on the bill, Dimitrijevic explained that she was “again, very perplexed”.
“We’re not talking about a situation similar to Ireland’s where people voted to decide whether to remove something within the constitution thus leading to the legalisation of abortion. We’re not talking about that, we’re not talking about decriminalisation.”
She further said the Labour Party had included sexual and reproductive rights in their mandate, and that while this amendment isn’t addressing such rights, it is clarifying something that was already common practice.
Why do you think there has been a spread of misinformation regarding the abortion law amendment?
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