Two doctors have filed a judicial protest against the Medicines Authority, saying they will hold it responsible for the consequences of introducing abortifacient Morning-After-Pill products.

Dr Miriam Sciberras and Dr Klaus Vella Bardon filed the protest against Professor Anthony Serracino Inglott, the Chairman of the Medicines Authority.

They said that they are in favour of the protection of human life from conception as well as the procection of embryos. The the ultimate aim of the Morning-After-Pill is to prevent pregnancy and this was done through a mechanism that was often abortive. This meant that the MAP was not a contraceptive in the ordinary sense but also a method of abortion that destroyed human life in its early stages in the womb.

Two types of MAP had been discussed in Parliament. One is considered to be ‘embryocidal,’ which means that it can kill the embryo. This was proven by scientific studies.

Dr Sciberras and Dr Vella Barton, who are members of the Life Network Foundation Malta, also said that, in all countries where IVF was performed, every fertilized egg, even if in a petri dish in a laboratory, was recognised as an embryo.

Malta is also a signatory of the Convention on the Rights of Children, which states that ““the child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth.”

The protestors said the Medicines Authority had allowed the introduction of pills that can cause a chemical abortion, which would lead to the destruction of an embryo. According to Maltese law, this was a crime.

They said that, through its arbitrary decision to permit the importantion and supply of the Morning After Pill, the authority had also ignored the recommendations of the joint parliamentary committee, which said that any decision on MAP had to be in observance of the laws of Malta, including the criminal code.

The committee had also recommended that the authority only issue a licence for MAP if the product was not abortive.

In Malta, any intervention that stopped the growth process after fertilization amounted to an induced miscarriage, meaning abortion. The Criminal Code also stated that any doctor, surgeon or pharmacist that provides methods for abortion will be jailed for a period between 18 months and four years and also lose their licence.

The protestors also said the introduction of MAP was in breach of the Embryo Protection Act and argued that national law came before EU law when it came to the distribution of the product.

As a state entity, the Medicines Authority had a duty to respect human life and guarantee the right to life at every stage, they said.

Furthermore, the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality had expressed itself in favour of MAP by resting on what the Women’s Rights Foundation’s arguments but had ignored the vulnerability of the voiceless embryos.

The protestors said they are holding the authority responsible for the consequences of their actions and are reserving the right to take further action in order to protect human life.

The protest was signed by lawyers Tonio Azzopardi, Louise Ann Pulis and Ramon Bonett Sladden.