Abortion: what happens to Marlene Farrugia’s decriminalisation bill?

A historic Bill to decriminalise abortion presented last year by former independent MP Marlene Farrugia expired the moment the election was called, as did all other pending legislation.

As it stands, without Farrugia in parliament, no MP has so far indicated whether they would come forward to resubmit the Bill or something similar to it.

Farrugia’s reasoning for presenting the Bill was that the COVID-19 pandemic had allowed her to reflect on the health struggles faced by women, saying that Malta needs better awareness of women’s needs in today’s society. This includes medical and sexual education to increase the quality of life among women in Malta.

“I see no conflict between pro-life and pro-choice. For me, this division between pro-life and pro-choice was created to divide women. The aim should be singular: to create a real choice for women on how they live their life. To create a real choice on how women determine the passage of their life at different stages,” she said after presenting the Bill back in May 2021.

The question is: what happens to the Bill now?

Speaking to MaltaToday, Farrugia said she found it difficult to believe that anyone elected would cross swords with their own party to take patronage of the proposed law.

Farrugia said she could only see the Bill being resubmitted if one of the two major parties changed their mind. “But so far from what we have seen, both parties seem to be dead set on not decriminalising abortion in the last electoral campaign,” she said. 

Farrugia said that even the women co-opted to the house under gender quotas, will not cross party lines. “They are afraid of being persecuted. They are afraid of being sidelined and treated as looneys if they stand up to be counted. Right now, it’s still considered a ‘death sentence’ for one’s political career to support abortion.

“In the British parliament for example we see cross-party voting all the time. However, it remains one of the biggest taboos in Malta.”

Farrugia said that before the abortion Bill can once again gain traction in the House, it wil have to be Maltese society that must first realise that decrimalisation is not the promotion of abortion – but that it factors into the wider remit of protecting women. “The way forward is for there to be an outcry in the streets; for women’s movements to unite and come together. It is only then that parliament will start to take notice,” she said.

And she also added that timing is of the essence. “I can’t see decrimalisation of abortion happening under a Nationalist government – so really the time to do it is now under a Labour Party government.” 

The former MP also pointed out the longstanding opposition to abortion by President George Vella, who has said he would resign before signing such a law into force “The president has said he would not sign the bill in no uncertain terms. So, if Labour changes tack, what happens? For Labour to go down this road, it would require a change in president. That is something to think about also.”