During the year 2023, a total of 491 pregnant women in Malta received abortion pills to terminate their pregnancy from the telemedicine services provided by Women on Web and Women Help Women, according to figures provided to Doctors for Choice by these organisations.

The corresponding figure for 2022 was 424, which means there has been a year-on-year increase of around 16%, Doctors for Choice said in a statement.

Malta enacted the first change to its abortion laws last year, but Doctors for Choice believe the new law will not help women who experience complications in pregnancy, and "it does not consider the plight of those who are victims of sexual crime or who receive a diagnosis of severe fetal anomaly".

A key aspect of the debate on Bill 28 was whether it would “introduce abortion” to Malta. The fact that just last year around 500 women received the means to terminate their pregnancy shows how incorrect and how detached from reality such statements are, the NGO said.

"Abortion is already in Malta, and more people are opting to terminate their pregnancy in their own homes," it said.