Abortion may be illegal in Malta, but an organisation operating a widely-publicised website is willing to send Maltese women a package that will enable them to terminate their pregnancy at home,
The Sunday Times of Malta has reported. After receiving a completed online consultation form and a 'donation' of €70, the organisation will send women in Malta a package of pills by regular registered air mail.
The local newspaper said it posed as a 20-year-old, seven-week pregnant woman from Malta seeking an abortion. The organisation replied that it would send the package and that it should arrive within two weeks.
Customers must answer 25 questions on the website before they are allowed to purchase the drugs. Women are advised to have a pregnancy test and an ultrasound if possible. The website advises against the use of the medicine if the pregnant woman cannot get to a hospital or first aid centre within an hour. But no one actually speaks to the woman concerned.
When contacted by
The Sunday Times, Donald Felice, president of the Malta College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, described the importation of such drugs as an extremely dangerous game.
These types of oral pill (containing Mifepristone or Misoprostol) have a number of side-effects - they are sometimes used under strict control to induce birth or to start a miscarriage in cases where babies die in the womb.
The website only lists the normal side effects of the medicines, which includes cramps, vaginal blood loss, and vomiting. The website says that painkillers can be used to relieve the pain. Blood loss is often heavy with clots. If the abortion is complete, the bleeding and the cramps diminish. However, Dr Felice believes the consequences could be far more serious and could even lead to death.
Furthermore there is no reference to any legal ramifications for the buyer.
The Sunday Times continued to say that according to Joe Giglio, a lawyer specialising in Criminal Law, if the woman takes the pills and procures her own miscarriage she could face anything between 18 months and three years' imprisonment. If a woman is caught in possession of the pills before taking them, thus indicating an attempted abortion, she would also be liable. Dr Giglio also explained that it is illegal to import a medicine without the required license from the health authorities.
However, he said it was difficult for the Maltese authorities to prosecute the website in a Maltese court if the jurisdiction of the country it is based in says there is nothing illegal in procuring such medicine.
