Watch: ‘We Made History’ – 4,410 Maltese Citizens Sign EU-Wide Abortion Petition
Over 4,000 people in Malta signed an EU-wide pro-choice petition calling for abortion to be accessible to all European citizens.
Malta gathered 4,410 online signatures and dozens more on paper, exceeding the national threshold of 4,230. This threshold is calculated based on the number of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) a country has, which in turn reflects population size.
The online petition closed last night, and by 4pm, Malta was still 85.53% away from hitting the quota. Activists made their final push in the last couple hours of the day, leading Malta to surpass the quota – not just hit it.
This sparked a nation-wide reaction among activists and few politicians, celebrating the growing pro-choice movement on our island.
“I didn’t even think Malta would reach half the signatures. But somehow, with hard work and a lot of backlash, we got more than 4,400 people to sign in the EU’s most restrictive country,” journalist and campaigner Belle de Jong said.
Former Maltese MEP and current Partit Malta Progressiva leader Cyrus Engerer also celebrated the news: “This is a message to Maltese politicians that this is an issue that only few people care about or are affected by. No. Malta had a full quota of people who put their names behind this request.”
He said that some people wanted to sign the petition but feared being reprimanded by work, friends or society at large for signing this petition.
What’s next?
My Voice, My Choice launched this European Citizens Initiative to demand the European Commission to propose EU-level financial support for safe abortion access.
This support would be given to member states offering abortion services to women from regions where these are not available.
The proposal suggests a voluntary opt-in system, where participating countries receive EU funding to support this solidarity measure. The initiative does not aim to harmonise abortion laws across the EU or interfere with national legislation. Rather, it falls within the EU’s supporting competence as outlined in the EU treaties.
The petition as a whole surpassed 1.2 million signatures, exceeding the EU threshold by 200,000 signatures. Member states are currently verifying all signatures – this process can last up to three months and once finalised, the results will be submitted to the EC.
The Commission then has three to six months to respond, either by proposing action or declining to act on the initiative.
The proposal will also be formally presented to the European Parliament, where elected MEPs can debate and advocate for the initiative’s demands.
Did you sign this petition?
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