Overseas charities note increase in Maltese women requesting abortion pills during COVID-19

Friday, 19 June 2020, 09:48 Last update: about 5 years ago

Overseas charities have reported large increase in requests for abortion pills from women in Malta during the Coronavirus pandemic, according to UK newspaper The Guardian.

Abortion is still illegal in Malta, and due to the coronavirus pandemic, flights were not operating, leaving women seeking abortions with little options but to reach out to overseas charities to obtain the pill.

The Guardian reported that one women online community which received 92 abortion pill requests in two months. “Women on Web, an online community based in the Netherlands, received 45 pill requests in March and 47 in April, up from 18 in February, with three women who requested abortion pills saying they had been raped by their partner during lockdown.”

The newspaper highlighted that Abortion Support Network, a UK based charity, recorded an increase in requests for the pill; from an average of seven a month before the pandemic, to 13 in March and April and 19 in May.

“It is estimated that between 300 and 400 women from Malta travel abroad for an abortion each year, with the UK often their country of choice.” Earlier this month it was reported that 58 women from Malta had an abortion in the UK last year alone.

The UK based newspaper highlighted that doctors from Mater Dei have seen an increase in women turning up in A&E suffering from incomplete miscarriages, from which they suspect are self-induced abortions using illegally bought online. It is reported that doctors have also witnessed women forced to deliver abnormal foetuses that they wish to terminate, including a baby with severe brain defects.

“The women I’ve spoken to have felt trapped. I was able to help one woman with a severe foetal abnormality reach the UK but many have not been able to and have had to continue with their unwanted pregnancy,” said Prof Isabel Stabile a pro-life gynaecologist to the UK newspaper.

The Guardian spoke to a gynaecologist from Mater Dei hospital who said “What’s most dangerous is that women can’t trust the healthcare provider to discuss these things. If someone is bleeding heavily, we need to know what caused it so we can treat them properly. Most of the time taking the tablets is safe but there are risks.”