Maya Spiteri Dalli is a law student at the University of Malta. Most notably, the paper called for the decriminalisation of abortion, free and accessible contraception, and an almost complete reform of the Malta sexual health policy draft. We sat down with Maya as she walked us through the process of creating the document, her role in its creation and her hopes for what it may achieve in Malta. Currently, I am Secretary General of the organization; however, before this I took the role of Policy Officer, hence being the task leader for the abortion policy paper.
My colleagues and I, Matthew Charles and Valentina oversee the general executive and we work together on a consistent basis. What was the driving force behind creating the legal document on sexual and reproductive health? A few months ago, the Policy Subcommittee deliberated on a list of possible topics that required a legal insight.
The Policy Office already boasts a great portofolio, having previously, handled subjects such as euthanasia and human trafficking, therefore discussing abortion was almost a natural step.
The same process and objective applies for all our papers to get the outcome desired, that is a well researched and insightful paper, handling the subject from a general perspective and, if need be, constructing proposals that the legislator should consider. We hope that this document supplements the information and research already published on the topic and we hope that whatever legislative framework that forms the basis of any changes in the future, this document is a main point of reference.
We hope that people will read it objectively and decide for themselves, and form as a contribution for our ever changing society. Students remained objective, loyal to the facts and open minded, not to mention we openly discussed other matters. Given how highly debated this topic was, it took quite some time, more accurately a year and two different executive boards in the making!
