A pro-choice coalition, made up of civil society organisations and individuals who want to campaign for reproductive rights and justice in Malta has been set up.
The Voice for Choice coalition will be campaigning for the decriminalisation of abortion and advocating for laws that ensure the health of pregnant women is protected and in line with international human rights standards through proper abortion care.
In a statement on Friday, they pointed out that abortion in Malta continued to remain criminalised under all circumstances. Still, the reality was that women in Malta were still seeking and having abortions at a financial and social cost, as well as at the cost of their physical and mental health, amid fear, stigma and shame.
Read: Abortion Support Network expands service to Malta
Social policy academic Andrea Dibben said abortion was still a reality in Malta, but one for which women were paying a hefty price.
“We are here to ensure every person is helped and protected, whatever their choice,” she said.
“We want to add pressure to ensure that women have access to reproductive healthcare and that our reproductive laws are on the same level as international ones,” Dr Dibben said.
She stressed that women should not be considered criminals for terminating their pregnancy.
“There are a lot of myths and this is a topic we could not talk about when we were younger,” Dr Dibben said.
The launch, she explained, was an invite for the government and policy makers to join the conversation surrounding abortion.
In the last decades, Malta made great strides to be a more inclusive society so it was also time for laws related to abortion to follow suit, the organisation said.
Voice for Choice said it had launched its campaign to strive for a society based on equal respect and justice free from discrimination for all genders and minority groups.
It wanted to ensure that barriers in accessing sexual and reproductive health and rights were removed, promote equality in the area of sexual and reproductive health and rights, and remove shame and stigma related to sexual and reproductive health and rights.
The coalition will be organising activities to raise awareness in the community and combat the stigma and shame surrounding abortion, providing up to date information to support evidence-based policy.
Read: Women should have access to abortion in at least four circumstances - paper says
A social media campaign called '50 abortion myths: Get the facts straight' is being launched on Saturday.
The coalition’s founding members are: Women’s Rights Foundation, Men Against Violence, Moviment Graffitti, Malta Humanist Association, Integra Foundation, Aditus Foundation, and co-founders Francesca Fenech Conti, Jelena Bezzina and Liza Caruana-Finkel.