Doctors To Report Abortion Only With Consent In Proposed Law

Prime Minister Robert Abela said medical experts will be legally protected if they choose not to report individuals who seek help after an abortion.

Speaking ahead of a planned amendment to the Professional Secrecy Act, Abela said a law is being worked out so that medical experts will only be able to report an abortion only with the consent of the patient.

The announcement comes in the wake of a controversial abortion case that saw a woman receiving a two year suspended sentence after she was reported to the police by a medical professional for a medical abortion.

During the interview, Abela said that this was the first case where a woman was handed a prison sentence for having an abortion.

He said that such a case will keep women from finding medical assistance even if they desperately need it.

He explained that medical experts are, in such cases, able to either report or not when helping a woman who needs medical care after undergoing an abortion.

The revised law aims to clarify that professionals are not obliged to breach their duty of confidentiality when assisting people in need of medical or legal support.

Abela did clarify however that this does not mean that a decriminalisation of abortion is on the table, but said that such an amendment would at least avoid any future fatalities due to women avoiding emergency medical care after having undergone an abortion.

#MaltaDaily