Church’s Cana Movement fears gay marriage opens door to sperm donation

Church’s marriage preparation unit Cana Movement claims gay marriage is prelude to sperm donation and surrogacy for same-sex couples wanting children

The movement said marriage was, is and remains a life-long union between one man and one woman which by its nature is intended towards the procreation of children and the wellbeing of spouses
The movement said marriage was, is and remains a life-long union between one man and one woman which by its nature is intended towards the procreation of children and the wellbeing of spouses

The Maltese Church’s marriage preparation unit, the Cana Movement, has said Malta’s proposed move to introduce gay marriages should not come with a deletion of references to ‘man and woman’ and ‘husband and wife’ and said that gay marriage would deprive children of having “both a father and a mother”.

The sticking point for conservative critics of the amendments to various laws that will legislate for gay marriage is the removal of the apparent differentiation between sexes and spouses in the marital contract.

The Cana Movement claimed the gay marriage amendments were a prelude to the introduction of sperm donation and surrogacy in Maltese laws.

“Equality before the law should not be a pretext to deny differentiation. Whereas it is the legislator’s duty to regulate different forms of relationships, this is not a justification to redefine marriage or attempt to alter the nature of marriage,” the Cana Movement said.

“Marriage was, is and remains a life-long union between one man and one woman which by its nature is intended towards the procreation of children and the wellbeing of spouses. Neither should the proposed law promote deletion of references to man and woman, husband and wife, both of which have important and complementary roles in the procreation and bringing up of children.”

The movement said laws distinguishing between different forms of relationships, such as co-habitation, civil unions and marriage, were not discriminatory. “On the contrary they acknowledge and respect differences, particularly in a society which celebrates pluralism and diversity.”

It said MPs were duty-bound to consider whether the proposed law exceeded the electoral mandate, even though both the PN and the PL said they would support gay marriage. “Besides introducing gay marriage, it appears that the draft law is the precursor to practices such as gamete donation and surrogacy which consider children as a right of parents rather than a gift of life. The Cana Movement would like to appeal to politicians to continue introducing measures to strengthen families. In so doing, legislators should seek to enact just laws, which respect the truth, promote human dignity and the good of society as a whole.”