US woman denied abortion in Malta flies to Spain to terminate pregnancy

An American tourist who suffered a miscarriage in Malta has been evacuated by air ambulance to Spain after she was refused an abortion by hospital authorities on the island state, which has Europe’s strictest abortion laws.

Andrea Prudente (38), was on holiday with her partner Jay Weeldreyer when her waters broke prematurely in the 16th week of her pregnancy.

The couple went public with their story with an appeal for assistance.

In a Facebook post, Ms Prudente wrote that her life was under threat. “As you can imagine, I would rather this trauma remain a private matter but I am desperate. I don’t want to die here,” she wrote.

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Mr Weeldreyer told Malta Today that hospital authorities had refused to intervene while the foetus still had a heartbeat, despite fears that infection could set in, and also despite the loss of amniotic fluid and early development of the foetus meaning it had no chance at life.

“I cannot understand: there is only one person who can walk out of this hospital alive, and it is my partner. Why are they putting my lost daughter, who has no hope of being saved, above my partner? There is no miracle that’s going to happen. We keep being told the baby will not survive,” he said.

“The daily monitoring of the heartbeat has made us face the retraumatisation of losing our daughter, repeatedly.”

The couple managed to secure an air ambulance through their travel insurance to fly Ms Prudente to Spain to receive treatment. She arrived safely on Thursday evening, a lawyer representing the couple, Lara Dimitrijevic, told The Irish Times.

Ms Prudente “requested a termination which was denied simply because Malta, like Ireland before, has a total ban on abortion”, said Ms Dimitrijevic. “She has been medically evacuated last night [Thursday] and now she’s getting the necessary abortion. She’s going through the procedure as we speak.”

Doctors estimate there are between two and four cases of miscarrying women who are denied intervention in Malta each year, Ms Dimitrijevic said. “Women are told to sit and wait, and then if septicemia or hemorrhage kicks in, then we’ll come and try to save your life.”

The incident has caused political controversy in Malta and drawn comparisons to the case of Savita Halappanavar, whose death from sepsis in 2012 after she was refused an abortion in Galway drove calls for the repeal of Ireland’s restrictive Eighth Amendment.

“The patient ... requested termination of pregnancy, but her request was denied. She was told doctors can only intervene if she is imminently dying — not even getting an infection is enough,” said a statement released by Doctors for Choice Malta.

“We do not want to have a case like Savita’s!” the statement read. “This is not right. Women have beating hearts too!”

In the wake of Ms Prudente’s case, gynecologist Isabel Stabile told Maltese media that 60 doctors would be launching a judicial protest to Malta’s abortion law, saying they “cannot perform necessary and sometimes life-saving medical procedures” for fear of losing their medical licenses.

Malta is the only country in the European Union to prohibit abortion in any circumstances. Medical professionals and pregnant women can face imprisonment if they are found to have “caused a miscarriage”, though prosecutions are rare.

Malta’s health ministry and the hospital concerned did not immediately respond to a request for comment.