From Ripple to Wave: The Genesis of Malta's Pro-Choice Movement (2016–2019)

This paper explores the formative years of the contemporary abortion rights movement in Malta (2016–2019), a pivotal period marked by the successful introduction of the Morning After Pill (MAP) and the establishment of a formal pro-choice coalition, culminating in the country’s first public rally for abortion rights. Methodologically, this paper employs an autoethnographic approach, positioning the researcher's personal participation as the Chairperson of the Women's Rights Foundation (WRF), and critical self-reflexivity as the primary lens for analysing complex socio-political phenomena. This is supplemented by insights from interviews with key actors and analysis of media coverage, including the author's and other activists' active engagement in public discussions. The research is theoretically framed by concepts of reproductive governance to analyse the institutional control over bodily autonomy, and reproductive justice to assess the movement's strategy of ensuring access and equity. The analysis traces the movement's strategic evolution and historical milestones, including the successful 2016 judicial protest for the Morning After Pill, the launch of Women’s Rights Foundation’s position paper, international learning missions to Ireland and Portugal, and grassroots mobilisation such as value clarification workshops with Catholics for Choice, and the founding of Doctors for Choice and Voice for Choice. Central to the research is the critical examination of the challenges of front-line leadership in Malta's restrictive, Catholic context. The paper investigates the hostility and public scrutiny that accompanied this advocacy, contrasting it with the collective resilience required to sustain and grow the movement. Ultimately, this study documents the growth strategies that transformed the discourse on reproductive rights from a suppressed issue into a visible, social movement, offering critical lessons for feminist and broader movement-building in restrictive contexts.