An American woman who was denied a life-saving abortion while on holiday in Malta is suing its Government, alleging the country’s total ban on the procedure breached her human rights.
Andrea Prudente was on a babymoon vacation with husband Jay Weeldreyer on the island nation in June when she began bleeding profusely.
Upon seeking medical help, the couple realised that Ms Prudente had suffered a premature rupture of the amniotic sac and the separation of the placenta at 16 weeks. The pregnancy was unviable.
Doctors at the Mater Dei Hospital where she was taken refused to terminate the pregnancy as a foetal heartbeat was still detectable.
Malta has one of strictest abortion laws in the world, with the procedure banned in all cases including rape, incest and when the mother’s life is at risk.
After a seven day stay in hospital, during which her case attracted international headlines, she was airlifted by her travel insurance company to a hospital in Mallorca, Spain, where the abortion was allowed to proceed.
In a lawsuit filed by their attorneys and obtained by Malta Today, the couple have asked Malta’s First Hall of the Civil Court to declare the country’s abortion ban unconstitutional and a breach of the European Convention of Human Rights.
Ms Prudente is also seeking for the court to declare that her human rights had been breached and award her compensation for damages, according to Malta Today.
“This had been a planned and highly anticipated pregnancy for the plaintiff and her partner, Jay, and although it was not an easy decision, she had no other choice but to seek a termination of her pregnancy without further delay as her life was in danger,” the application states. “The plaintiff had no other option but to wait until her body went into labour, a process that could take weeks or months, and therefore had to seek treatment abroad because her life and health were at risk.”
Ms Prudente was unavailable for an interview on Tuesday morning, but told Vice News she felt compelled to launch the lawsuit on behalf of all Maltese women.
“I don’t have that same cultural pressure, taboo or shame,” she told Vice. “I feel strongly that I was a victim of a law that harms women and that I’m in a unique position as an outsider to speak up and stand up and shine a light on this thing which feels wrong.”
In response to the lawsuit, anti-abortion group Life Network Foundation Malta have urged the Government to “choose top legal advisers to defend life”.
The Maltese government last year enacted a review of its abortion laws in reaction to Ms Prudente’s case, Malta Today reported.
Health Minister Chris Fearne said at the time it would look at the parts of Maltese law that prevent doctors from “providing care when it is needed”.
Pro and anti-abortion protests were held in the Maltese capitol of Valetta over the weekend, the Times of Malta reported.
