Alone on an Island The impact of COVID-19 containment measures on access to abortion care in Malta

Abstract

Malta is a small predominantly Catholic island-nation in the Mediterranean ocean and there is a complete ban on abortion in the country –  there are no exemptions for rape, incest, fetal anomalies, or to save a pregnant woman’s life. Both medical and surgical abortions are illegal and women choosing to end pregnancies have often sought to have abortion care outside of Malta, traveling primarily abroad at great personal cost. Medical care in Malta is otherwise free at the point of care. Options for the care are extremely limited as there is great public support for the Maltese abortion ban. As the government of Malta imposed travel restriction in the interest of containing spread of SARS-CoV2, women faced further limitations in their ability to access safe, effective abortion care in other countries. Many women have ordered medications online and have self-managed their abortion care. Women who have had abortions or people who facilitate abortions in Malta do face criminal charges and women who seek medical management of complications of self-managed abortions do so where the potential of charges exists. Denying women access to safe and private abortion care has the potential to cause significant physical, psychological, and social effects and unfairly harms those who are experiencing unwanted pregnancy. Given the global COVID pandemic, the Maltese government has a responsibility to ensure access to safe abortion care whether abroad or self-managed and such care should be decriminalized.