Women MPs against over-the-counter sale of morning-after pill

Only one female member of parliament, out of nine, supports the over-the-counter sale of the morning after pill, an exercise carried out by MaltaToday has revealed.

Civil Liberties Minister Helena Dalli was the only MP to confirm with MaltaToday that she was in favour of making the emergency contraceptive pill available over the counter, arguing that pharmacists were qualified enough to advise clients on the pill’s use and side effects.

“We are not talking about selling it from any other shop but from a pharmacy, which is run by professionals who are legally obliged to give advice,” Dalli said.

A joint committee of the social affairs, health and family parliamentary committees has recommended to parliament that the morning-after pill should require a doctor’s prescription when sold to women. It also decided that the Malta Medicines Authority should only issue a licence if studies confirm that a particular brand of the emergency contraception does not breach the Embryo Protection Act.

Dalli said that she has to respect the decision taken by the joint committee, “but one hopes that things can change”. 

Parliamentary secretary for lands Deborah Schembri said she agreed with a doctor’s prescription: “Any drug that has the potential to cause harm to the user should only be administered after a doctor’s recommendation.”

No reply from parliamentary secretary for the elderly Justyne Caruana was forthcoming at the time of writing.

On their part, PN MPs Marthese Portelli, Kristy Debono, Paula Mifsud Bonnici and Claudette Buttigieg provided near-identical statements, saying they supported the recommendation of the joint committee. Both Mifsud Bonnici and Buttigieg formed part of the joint committee.

Democratic Party founder and independent MP Marlene Farrugia argued that contraception should be made available to the public for free as long as it could be guaranteed that it is not an abortifacient.

“Since the joint committee could not conclude that this was the case with the morning-after pill, I cannot support its introduction,” she told MaltaToday.

Independent MP Giovanna Debono was unavailable for comment.

PN MEP Roberta Metsola – who last June told MaltaToday that the PN would be discussing the Womens’ Rights Foundation’s judicial protest internally – and Labour MEP Miriam Dalli, have come out against the committee’s recommendation, arguing that the morning-after pill should be widely available.

A discussion on the morning-after pill was ignited after the Women’s Rights Foundation filed a judicial protest last June, demanding that the licensing, importation and distribution of the MAP be made legal.

A number of civil rights activists and NGOs have criticised the recommendation, pointing out that the nature of emergency contraception requires it to be administered as quickly as possibly, with the success rate of the drug becoming smaller with each passing hour.

An online petition addressed to MPs, which has garnered over 1,300 signatures, states that the committee’s recommendations “are deeply detrimental to the well-being of women in our society, and disregard all respect for female bodily autonomy”.

A protest by Gender Equality Malta will be held on Sunday urging MPs to rethink their position.

Emergency contraceptive pills can be divided into different categories depending on which active ingredient is contained within them. There are two main types, namely those containing ulipristal acetate and those containing levonogestrel.

In correspondence sent to the committee, Medicines Authority chairman Professor Anthony Serracino Inglott recommended that “physicians be urged to use Levonorgestrel as first line.”

In November 2014, the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) recommended a change in classification status from prescription to non-prescription for ulipristal acetate emergency contraception pills with vast majority of EU member states adopting the recommendation.

As of this year, emergency contraception is available, over the counter in all EU countries with the exception of Hungary, where it still requires a prescription.