pregnancy complications
US tourist in Malta allowed to abort disabled child in Spain
The pregnant 38-year-old and her partner were vacationing in Malta when her waters burst after heavy bleeding. Since then she has been in a hospital (symbol photo).
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Because of the tricky ban on abortion in Malta, a US tourist feared for her life after serious complications during her pregnancy. Now there is hope for the American: she was allowed to fly to Spain to abort her disabled child there.
The US tourist, who feared for her life in Malta after complications during her pregnancy because of the country’s abortion ban, has been brought to Spain. Andrea Prudente is now out of danger, her partner Jay Weeldreyer told the AFP news agency on Friday.
The pregnant 38-year-old and her partner were vacationing on the Mediterranean island when her waters burst after heavy bleeding. Doctors said the fetus had no chance of surviving, but because of the country’s ban on abortion, they refused to intervene – although Weeldreyer said the mother’s life was also in danger.
Abortion denied in Malta
Prudente was then taken to Spain, where she “receives the medical care and treatment that she was denied in Malta,” Weeldreyer said. Now that she is out of danger herself, she mourns the lost baby.
Weeldreyer reported how “insensitive” and “cruel” his partner was treated in the hospital in Malta. Tests had shown that the placenta had partially separated from the uterus and the baby could not survive due to the lack of amniotic fluid. Weeldreyer had accused the doctors of playing “a dangerous game” with the mother’s life.
In Malta, abortions are punishable by imprisonment
Ms. Prudente was “weak and exhausted, relieved and grieving,” the couple’s lawyer, Lara Dimitrijevic, wrote in an online service. The case has made international headlines, bringing into focus the harsh laws in Malta, the only country in the EU to outright ban abortion.
In Malta, women who give abortions face up to three years in prison, while doctors who assist them can face up to four years in prison.
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