This personal experience was originally shared with Doctors for Choice Malta. This was during the parliamentary discussions of Bill 28 in November and December 2022. If the legal amendment is enacted, it will allow abortion when the pregnant person's life or health is in grave danger. This will mean that the healthcare professionals involved and the pregnant person herself will not be subjected to criminal sanctions in such scenarios.
The story below is being published on Break the Taboo Malta with the author's consent.
"I had a missed miscarriage at the very beginning of the 2nd trimester. 1 doctor wanted to send me to hospital to remove the baby. Others told me everything was fine, the baby had a heartbeat. This went on for weeks.
I was misinformed and my life put in danger because of other people's personal beliefs. I was not given all the facts to make decisions regarding my own health because others believed they had the right to decide for me. This was a baby I wanted - desperately.
Eventually I was hospitalised when it became obvious that this pregnancy was going to kill me. I had to wait a day for a board of people who had never met me to decide if I could be administered the medication needed to save my life, all whilst sharing a room with laboring mothers.
No one has the right to make those decisions for a woman, especially not people who would never find themselves in that situation!"
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