RECENTLY women in Gibraltar and Malta got a Valentine’s Day gift from Manx people they don’t know and will likely never meet. This was no empty, romantic gesture. Rather than chocolates, flowers, perfume or jewellery they will receive practical help in abortion related crises.

If abortion is illegal in Malta, aren’t ASN breaking the law?

For Mara Clarke, the founder of women’s charity Abortion Support Network (ASN), the ultimate victory would be for her organisation to no longer be needed. “For us, victory would be to shut down, and for the phone to stop ringing.”

January was not as busy as usual for Mara Clarke. Typically, the London-based founder of the Abortion Support Network [ASN] gets a large number of calls from women needing help to travel to Britain to terminate a pregnancy.

“ASN and our supporters know that making abortion against the law never stops abortion,” the charity’s founder, Mara Clarke, said. It makes abortion inconvenient for those with financial and other supports, and catastrophic for those who are marginalized, at risk, or poor.”

The charity believes not being able to afford an abortion should never be the only reason why someone should become a parent .

A charity that helped Irish women to travel for abortions is to expand and help women in Malta and Gibraltar.

These services will alleviate to a great extent the discriminatory and cruel situation women in Malta are forced to live in. By abrogating itself from its duties and responsibilities, the state forces women to find their own way to acquire health and support they need. This initiative is another way of women supporting women as…

“We have been providing our services to Ireland, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man for almost 10 years and have an excellent network of donors, volunteers and supporters who believe that ‘I can’t afford an abortion’ should never be the only reason someone becomes a parent.”