Malta activists protest, seek to decriminalize abortion
By KEVIN SCHEMBRI ORLAND
Associated Press
VALLETTA, Malta (AP) — Abortion rights activists have filed a legal protest in Malta’s courts demanding the legalization of abortion. Malta is the only European Union nation where the procedure is criminalized. Carrying banners reading “Abortion is health care, not a crime,” the activists protested Wednesday on the steps of Valletta’s legal courts after filing the complaint.The petition by the Women’s Rights Foundation names the Maltese health minister, parliament’s secretary for equality and reforms and the state advocate in asserting that the country’s absolute ban on abortion violates the fundamental human rights of Maltese women of child-bearing age.