A scan carried out on a woman who admitted to committing an abortion showed that there was no foetus two weeks before the crime was said to have been carried out.  

Raya Sellami Zammit, 30, was sentenced to a suspended jail term after she admitted swallowing a concoction of pills with the intention of committing an abortion. 

But according to foetal specialist Naged Megally, who carried out the ultrasound on October 27 – two weeks before Ms Zammit decided to take the pills – the scan showed an empty gestational sac.  

According to ultrasound documents the ultrasound-based diagnosis was that she had a blighted ovum. That occurs when a fertilised egg attaches itself to the uterine wall but the embryo fails to develop. The placenta can continue to grow and support itself without a baby for a short time, and pregnancy hormones can continue to rise, which leads a woman to believe she is still pregnant. 

Mater Dei CEO Ivan Falzon said the hospital could not comment on a particular case. “Mater Dei Hospital is duty-bound to flag any suspicious case with the relevant authorities. It is up to the authorities to then investigate and prosecute should it be deemed appropriate.”

Criminal lawyer Joe Giglio said Ms Zammit’s fate in the courts could have been different had she pleaded not guilty and proved there was no embryo inside her body.

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