Abortion is a criminal offense in Malta, and the Malta abortion law is one of the strictest in the European Union. A woman who ends her own pregnancy, and anyone who helps her, can be sentenced to 18 months to 3 years in prison. Since June 2023, a narrow medical exception allows a termination when the pregnancy threatens the woman’s life, or places her health in grave jeopardy that could lead to death, provided the fetus has not yet reached viability. No other circumstance — not rape, not incest, not a fatal fetal diagnosis, not mental health — is a legal ground to end a pregnancy in Malta.
What Counts as a Crime
The Criminal Code reaches almost every imaginable method. It criminalizes causing a miscarriage “by any food, drink, medicine, or by violence, or by any other means whatsoever,” and separately criminalizes a woman who procures her own miscarriage or consents to the means used.1Legislation Malta. Criminal Code Chapter 9 Supplying information or materials intended to facilitate a termination is also an offense.
The penalties depend on who is involved:
- A woman who procures her own miscarriage or consents to it: 18 months to 3 years in prison.1Legislation Malta. Criminal Code Chapter 9
- A third party who causes a miscarriage, whether the woman consented or not: 18 months to 3 years.1Legislation Malta. Criminal Code Chapter 9
- A doctor, surgeon, obstetrician, or pharmacist who knowingly prescribes or administers the means: 18 months to 4 years, plus permanent disqualification from practicing their profession.2University of Malta. Malta Criminal Law in Relation to Abortion 2023
The professional ban is mandatory on conviction, not discretionary. A convicted doctor loses the legal right to practice medicine in Malta for life.
The Only Legal Exception
For decades Malta had no exceptions at all. In June 2023, Parliament passed Act XXII of 2023, inserting Article 243B into the Criminal Code.2University of Malta. Malta Criminal Law in Relation to Abortion 2023 The amendment does not legalize abortion. It creates a defense against prosecution in two tightly defined medical scenarios.
The first is an immediate risk to the woman’s life. A single medical practitioner can intervene without convening a panel or seeking additional approval; the law prioritizes speed because requiring a committee in a genuine emergency could cost the woman her life.
The second is a complication that places the woman’s health in “grave jeopardy which may lead to death.” This pathway requires a three-doctor medical team to confirm the necessity of the intervention before it proceeds, and the procedure must take place in a licensed hospital.3FIAPAC. Abortion Is a Fact of Life in Modern Malta
The Viability Limit
Both exceptions carry a condition that often gets lost in summaries of the law. The fetus must not have reached viability. In the life-threatening scenario, the practitioner must form a reasonable opinion that the fetus is not yet viable. In the grave-jeopardy scenario, the medical team must determine that the fetus is not viable and cannot be delivered according to professional medical standards.3FIAPAC. Abortion Is a Fact of Life in Modern Malta If the fetus is viable and can be delivered alive, Article 243B does not apply, and the medical team must pursue delivery rather than termination.
The statute does not fix a gestational age for viability, leaving the question to clinical judgment. That creates uncertainty in borderline cases.
What the Law Does Not Allow
Several situations that other European countries treat as grounds for a legal termination remain criminal in Malta:
- Pregnancy resulting from rape or incest. There is no exception for any form of sexual assault.
- Fatal fetal anomalies. A diagnosis of a condition incompatible with life after birth is not a legal basis for termination.
- Mental health grounds. Psychological distress, suicidal ideation, and psychiatric conditions do not qualify under either exception.
- Socioeconomic circumstances. Financial hardship, age, and family size are not recognized justifications.
The grave-jeopardy exception is further limited to risks that “may lead to death.” A serious, permanent health condition that will not kill the woman but may cause lifelong disability falls outside Article 243B. The original bill proposed in November 2022 would have covered broader health risks; Parliament narrowed it at the committee stage before passage.4Amnesty International. Malta Lives Put at Risk as Parliament Waters Down Bill Seeking to Partially Decriminalize Abortion
Abortion Pills Ordered Online
The Criminal Code’s reference to causing a miscarriage by “any food, drink, medicine… or by any other means whatsoever” covers medication abortion.1Legislation Malta. Criminal Code Chapter 9 Ordering mifepristone or misoprostol online and using them to end a pregnancy sits squarely inside the prohibition, and carries the same 18-month to 3-year sentence as any other method of self-induced termination.
Emergency contraception is treated differently. The morning-after pill is available without a prescription at Maltese pharmacies and is not classified as an abortifacient under Maltese law.
How Often the Law Is Enforced
Prosecutions have been rare. Between 2000 and the early 2020s, only three women were convicted, the most recent in 2006, and none served prison time. Between 2015 and 2020, three people were investigated for alleged abortions but none were charged. In 2023, a woman was charged in court for having an abortion, a case that drew significant attention precisely because enforcement had been so uncommon.
The gap between the law on the books and the law in practice is real, but past non-enforcement is not a legal protection. The criminal provisions remain in full force, and a single high-profile prosecution can shift that pattern.
Traveling Abroad
Because domestic options are so narrow, some Maltese residents travel to other European countries. The United Kingdom was historically the most common destination, with roughly 55 Maltese residents per year traveling there for abortion services between 2010 and 2019. Those numbers dropped sharply after Brexit, falling to just 4 in 2021. Spain has become an increasingly used alternative, with 27 Maltese residents obtaining abortions there in 2023. The Netherlands is also reported as a common destination, though Dutch authorities do not publish country-specific figures.
Traveling abroad for an abortion is not itself a crime under Maltese law; the Criminal Code targets acts performed within Malta’s jurisdiction. The cost and logistics of international travel, however, mean this route is only available to those who can arrange it.