Prime Minister Robert Abela described the updated version of the government's bill to amend Malta's abortion law as a "historic legislative development," on Friday.

Health Minister Chris Fearne announced changes to a bill the government had proposed to allow abortions to take place in cases where the prospective mother’s life is at risk on Friday morning. The amended bill introduced amendments to clarify that a pregnancy termination may only be considered when the mother’s life is at risk, when all other medical practices have been exhausted, and when the pregnancy itself is not viable.

The changes, Abela said, "confirm the courage the government had which, from the beginning, said there was the need for reform in the laws regarding this issue, to protect the lives of prospective mothers."

He criticised the PN "as it insisted that there was no need for a legislative amendment."

Abela said that the politics of persuasion worked. "The point of departure was that the government's intention was clear. We understood the concerns of certain sectors of society and we understood what society was ready to accept at this moment, and we undertook a process over months of continuous dialogue with all those who raised concerns. We understood what the points of convergence were and I understand that today the final amendment reflects what was discussed." He said that the government could not remain silent when it knew that mothers could be left on the verge of death due to the current laws.

Abela said that the current law does not conform with the EU Convention and believes that the reform will conform.

Asked what his message to people who are pro choice and feel that the amendment did not go far enough is, Abela said that today was "a very important step. This is a big change, a change that jolts the status quo that this country was stuck in."

He said that the country had cases where the life of a prospective mother was at risk, where the professional would be legally exposed if they performed a medical procedure to prevent the mother losing her life, and the mother exposed to criminal proceedings as an intervention would have taken place to save her life, he said. This, he said, was today addressed.

He said that this absolute legislative vacuum was today addressed. "I understand that there are those who wanted more, that there are those saying that we did too much and that society is not ready to accept this. I believe that today, our society is ready to generally accept this amendment."

He said he is satisfied that the government managed to persuade what the government's original intention was and said that the text confirms what the original idea was.

Asked if he excludes the government taking other steps on abortion, Abela said: "I always said that there is a discussion that began in different sectors of society. What we are going to legislate in the coming days does not speak about abortion, but the discussion is there."

He tried to distance the legislative amendments from the discussion about abortion, saying that they are two different issues. "That discussion needs to start, move forward and I don't believe it should be in the political domain, let's let society talk."