Government will not compromise in protecting life of the unborn - Justice Minister

Social Policy Minister Chris Said has insisted that Government will not compromise with its principle to safeguard human life from the very first moments of conception.

Speaking during a conference organised by the Movement for the Rights, Protection and Development of the Unborn Child, Said said government "wanted this message to be delivered through the title of bill".

During his address, Said noted that the timing of the conference was appropriate, given how the IVF Bill's second reading will be debated in parliament next week.

Said also emphasised Government's commitment in considering the moment of conception as the beginning of human life.

"The basic principle of the law is to protect life from its very first moments. We are not ready to toy with this principle," he said.

Said conceded that while Government was ready and willing to "improve and tweak the Bill to ensure that this [IVF] procedure is workable and yields results". Throughout his delivery, Said reiterated that "government was not ready to toy with the principle of protecting life from day one."

"We believe that human life begins from the moment of conception," Said stated unequivocally.

He said that the IVF Bill would not be actually creating or allowing anything new, only regulating existing practices. "Today, nothing is illegal in this sector," he said.

"This bill ensures regulation where, one one side we safeguard life from the moment of conception and on the other we give hope and opportunity to those families who are unable to have children."

While emphasising that the needs and situations of families unable to have children naturally, no matter how few, needed to be considered "with sensitivity", he insisted that any family assistance would take place "without violating the underlying principle of the bill".

The minister said the Bill doesn't allow "just anyone" to have the procedure done. "It lays out a process involving various stages for families unable to have children naturally involving several methods. Then the couple would arrive to the final step of undertaking the IVF procedure."

He said that Government intends to further flesh out the relevant clauses at sub-committee stage. This to ensure that women who undertake the procedure are fully aware of the success rates, the side effects, and all other potential repercussions that accompany the IVF procedure.

He noted that the underlying principle of the Bill "will mean that certain practices will become illegal," such as cloning, embryo research, genetic splicing, the destruction of defective embryos, and also sex selection practices.

He noted that embryo freezing is one such practice and that this practice went against the principle upon which the IVF Bill is built.

"I have no doubt that the majority of the population also believe that an embryo is a human life," Said added.

Pointing towards Government's support for the alternative practice of egg (oocyte) freezing, he insisted that "we saw the success rates, and through it, we are avoiding entering into the issues of embryo freezing."

He added however that the government would be willing to consider embryo freezing "only in exceptional circumstances".

He also spoke about the importance of the establishment of an authority that would ensure that the Bill is being implemented and the sector regulated and "will be able to implement the principles set out in the Bill".

"It will be up to the authority to take decisions that fall in line with the principles set out in the Bill. The authority can take no decision that violates the principles set forth in the bill," Said insisted.

Said also emphasised the law's importance, "because as things stand, anything can be done in Malta".

He emphasised that that while he was confident that local clinics followed their own codes of conduct, he warned that in future, operators might start undertaking unethical practices.

Said also spoke of Government's work regarding the protection of children's' interests in other areas of Maltese and Gozitan society, such as the National Action Plan for Children.