In the first year of the pandemic, between March 2020 and March 2021, the Women on Web organization sent 227 abortion pills to Malta.

The Malta Independent sent questions to both Doctors for Choice and Doctors for Life to get their view on this.

Women on Web provides medicine for women to end their pregnancies and among the countries to which they send pills is Malta. It is not the only organization that sends these pills to our country as even Women Help Women provides the same service, so the number should be presumed to be higher.

An international survey conducted during this year identified Malta as one of the countries with the highest demand for these types of tablets. 

Doctors for Choice

In comments given to this newspaper, Doctors for Choice said that abortion still takes place in Malta, and that by having legal barriers which block women from having an abortion makes it even more dangerous for them. "Abortion is a reality in Malta, just like anywhere else in the world. Women will always seek abortions, and legal barriers to abortion will only make abortion less safe for women,” a spokesperson for Doctors for Choice said.  

“We are thankful to organisations like Women on Web who have the resources and medical expertise to provide safe abortion telemedicine services to women in Malta. By providing this service they are helping to keep women in Malta safe from the dangers of do-it-yourself abortions or abortions by untrained providers.”

The spokesperson also said that it is high-time for Malta to introduce legal abortion to mitigate such dangers and help women who want to end their pregnancy.

“It is about time abortion in Malta is decriminalised so women can make use of abortion telemedicine services without any legal repercussions," he said. 

Doctors for Life

Doctors for Life challenged this, saying that that the “developing child” would go through a process before it dies. “We assume that the [amount of pills] means 227 sets of abortion pills since a medical abortion requires 2 different medications and not one. The first medication disrupts the placenta effectively cutting off the supply of oxygen and nutrition to the developing child, leading to death. The second stimulates contractions which result in the expulsion of a dead embryo/fetus.”

Thy also said “tragically at least 227 unborn children have been killed in this way during the last year. Home abortions (recommended by organisations like RCOG which prochoice groups use as a reference point for abortion care) may result in complications and women should not delay in seeking medical attention.”

The organisation remarked that it would be better to treat such women with empathy, and “offer all necessary assistance to ensure that any socioeconomic issues that compelled the woman to seek an abortion may be addressed.”