Equality Minister Helena Dalli has expressed her personal support for the introduction of free contraception, or at the least free contraception to low-income people through means testing.

Dalli was responding to a question put by The Malta Independent on Sunday while at a press conference held on International Women’s Day where the subject at hand was the gender-pay gap.

In her reply, Dalli stressed that this was a personal belief, and that such an issue would have to be discussed in tandem with the Health and Finance Ministries.

The issue was propelled to the forefront by the Women’s Rights Foundation (WRF). A survey carried by MaltaToday found that an overwhelming majority of Maltese are flatly against abortion, WRF issued a statement challenging Malta’s politicians to “put their money where their mouths are” and set up structures, such as free contraception, to reduce the rate of unwanted pregnancies. Malta’s major parties had reaffirmed their outright opposition to abortion under all circumstances.

Even Malta’s most prominent pro-life advocates, such as Steve Pace, has called on the government to contemplate the introduction of free contraception in the fight to prevent unwanted pregnancy and therefore abortions, while acknowledging that it is not right to push a theocratic agenda on a secular society.

Questions have been sent to both Health Minister Chris Fearne and the Nationalist Party; however, at the time of writing the questions remain unanswered.

                                  

It is not just about abortion, but preventing STIs

Including condoms in the subsidisation of contraceptives will also help tackle another prevalent issue on the island, that of sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

In 2016, Dr Valeska Padovese, head of the GU Clinic at Mater Dei was reported as stating that the number of STI’s, including HIV, diagnosed annually had more than doubled.

She explained that in the 80s and 90s, when global awareness about HIV and AIDs was raised, people were much more cautious. As the numbers began to drop, so did awareness.

An exercise carried out by this newsroom also found that young people had various reasons for not always using condoms when engaging in sexual activity, ranging from embarrassment at being seen at their local pharmacy to the financial burden.

Multiple doctors have said publically that the issues of STIs in Malta is underestimated, and that more work needs to be done in this regard.

 

Malta’s blanket ban on abortion

WRF yesterday called on the government and all political parties (see page 3) to show support for free contraception as a sign of its commitment to reduce the rates of abortion and unwanted pregnancies.

Malta is one of five countries made up of the Holy See, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Chile which imposes a blanket ban on abortion.

It is no secret that Maltese women travel overseas fork abortions; in 2009, 78 Maltese women had abortions carried out in the United Kingdom, in 2010 this number dipped to 51, rising again to 56 in 2014 and again to 58 in 2015.

Alternattiva Demokratika’s Carmel Cacopardo estimates that roughly 300-400 women travel abroad to get abortions, stressing that statistics are only available for those who travel to the UK. It is not known how many women travel to other countries or those who procure abortifacient medicines online.

Countries provide free contraception to its citizens in various forms, with some choosing just specific types such as condoms and oral birth-control medication while others have a wider policy.

There are at least 46 countries where oral contraception is available for free to all women, and not just those from a low-income background.

When taking a look at EU member states, several countries offer some form of subsidised contraception. Member states that subsidize contraceptives fully or to some extent to all its citizens are Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, France, Greece, Ireland, The Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and the United Kingdom.

Member states that subsidize contraception for women of a certain age or for low-income women, or provide only certain kinds of contraception are Finland, Hungary, Luxembourg, Sweden, Romania and Italy.

 

Efforts to protect the ‘unborn child’

The Nationalist Party (PN) has recently made efforts to have the status of the ‘unborn child’ legally enshrined to be part of the family unit, thus awarding it further protection.

A motion was presented to include this legal amendment after a Domestic Violence Bill was passed into law to complement the international domestic violence convention to which Malta is signatory.

Previously, the unborn child was legally recognised as being part of the household, but under the new domestic violence law, there is no reference to the unborn child being part of the family or domestic unit.

While efforts continue to be made to award further protection to “unborn child”, sections of society argue that serious efforts should be made to reduce the rate of unwanted pregnancies in the first place by providing free contraception which could make a huge impact on the lives of low-income individuals in particular.