In Malta the battle on the right to abortion is now also being fought through safety boxes scattered across the streets and locations of the archipelago. Inside are abortion pills. The installation was organized by the Dutch association Women on Waves, which launched a campaign destined to provoke a political and cultural clash in one of the most restrictive countries in Europe on the issue of abortion.
The so-called lockboxes have been placed in various places in Malta and on the island of Gozo. Women less than nine weeks pregnant who want to terminate their pregnancy can contact the activists via email to receive instructions and access codes. In the first eight days of the campaign, 16 women have already asked for help, a figure that the organizers interpret as a sign of a submerged and so far unanswered question.
One of the strictest laws in the European Union
Malta continues to represent an exception in the Western panorama. Voluntary termination of pregnancy remains illegal in almost all circumstances: it is not permitted even in cases of rape, incest or serious fetal malformations. From 2023, the legislation allows abortion only when the woman’s life is concretely in danger and only after the favorable opinion of three doctors, who must certify the absence of therapeutic alternatives.
For decades the ban was absolute. What partially changed the picture was a case that attracted international attention in 2022: an American tourist, during a holiday on the island, suffered an incomplete miscarriage. Doctors refused to intervene to terminate the pregnancy, fearing legal consequences. The woman was then transferred to Spain to receive the necessary treatment.
Hundreds of women have illegal abortions
The Women on Waves initiative immediately sparked public debate. Anti-abortion organizations have called on the authorities to open an investigation, accusing the activists of circumventing Maltese law. On the other hand, women’s rights movements denounce a situation that forces hundreds of women to travel abroad spending thousands of euros or to resort to clandestine abortions. However, the problem does not only concern the law, but also the lack of sexual education and limited access to contraceptives, elements which further aggravate the condition of Maltese women.
A reality that is too often invisible
The secret tapes campaign brings to light a reality that has remained invisible for years. Malta now finds itself faced with a clash that not only concerns the legality of abortion pills, but the very meaning of self-determination and public health. In a country where a woman was recently sentenced to a suspended sentence for a self-induced abortion, the network built by activists represents much more than a symbolic protest: it is a concrete attempt to create an alternative in a system that continues to leave thousands of women without choice.
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