Malta has a complete ban on abortion, with the law completely prohibiting abortion and criminalising the act of abortion for both the abortion provider and the woman seeking abortion. The law provides no exceptions, which means abortion in Malta is not allowed under any circumstances, not even in cases where the woman's health is at risk, when the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest, or in cases of fatal fetal anomaly.
The Criminal Code states:
Article 241 (1) Whosoever, by any food, drink, medicine, or by violence, or by any other means whatsoever, shall cause the miscarriage of any woman with child, whether the woman be consenting or not, shall, on conviction, be liable to imprisonment for a term from eighteen months to three years.
Article 241 (2) The same punishment shall be awarded against any woman who shall procure her own miscarriage, or who shall have consented to the use of the means by which the miscarriage is procured.’
Article 243 Any physician, surgeon, obstetrician, or apothecary, who shall have knowingly prescribed or administered the means whereby the miscarriage is procured, shall, on conviction, be liable to imprisonment for a term from eighteen months to four years, and to perpetual interdiction from the exercise of his profession.’
Despite this law, prosecutions for abortion are rare, and no woman has gone to prison for having an abortion in the last 25 years at least.
Update: In July 2023, a new law was passed to allow abortions to happen in Malta when the pregnant woman has a complication that may lead to death. There are no other exceptions in the law.
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