Labour MP says ‘limiting embryo freezing is good’

The government and opposition have found a bone of contention in the role the Authority for the Protection of the Embryo is to play once the five-man committee is appointed.

To be set up by the Embryo Protection Act, one of the authority's roles will be that of regulating the recipients of free IVF.

According to the Opposition this means that the authority will be issuing "licences to a couple with aspirations to become parents". For the government this role would effectively mean "reflecting a sense of responsibility".

The debate on the Embryo Protection Bill - as the act regulating the process of in-vitro fertilisation has been dubbed - continued this evening in parliament. The speakers included Nationalist MP Edwin Vassallo and Labour MPs Anthony Zammit, Owen Bonnici and Evarist Bartolo.

The only government MP who remained in the House throughout the whole debate was justice minister Chris Said.

Kicking off the debate, Zammit said he agreed that embryo freezing is made only available to cases of force majeure.

"I welcome the government's decision to recognise the concept of embryo freezing while limiting it to certain cases," Zammit said.

He added that this should be decided by the medical specialists.

The Labour MP said he agreed with the bill's aim in protecting the embryo. Admitting he was sorry he didn't have children, Zammit said the "foetus should be safeguarded and its dignity respected".

His statement was echoed by Nationalist MP Edwin Vassallo who also proposed an amendment to the law. Vassallo said that it should be put in black and white that the law "is safeguarding life at conception".

"We need a clause that respects the dignity - a law that makes it clear that life starts at conception. We need a clause that stipulates this reality as to reflect any decisions that might be taken in the future," he said.

Vassallo added that while legislators and the medical profession today were agreeing on this concept, this could not be the case in the future.

"In 10 years' time those working in this field might not have the same conscience as we do today."

He added that the law would also be able to regulate any future foreign clinic that might want to set up shop in Malta.

On the authority, Vassallo said its role was important as to safeguard that those involved - whether the parents or the medical profession - shoulder their responsibilities.

"It reflects a sense of responsibility. This is a law that looks at IVF responsibly and expects all those to be involved in the process to be responsible as well," he said.

A more hard-hitting speech was made by Evarist Bartolo. The Labour MP didn't mince his words when he came to criticising the words used by the Church in condemning couples who resort to assisted reproduction to bear children.

"I look back to the day when my children were born and think: 'who am I to decide that a couple shouldn't be given the opportunity to have children? Who am I to take a position against assisted reproduction?' It's inhumane," Bartolo said.

He went on to condemn the pastoral letter issued by Malta's bishops earlier this year in which the Church urged parents who turned to IVF to "seek God's mercy and self-reconciliation".

"This shows the need for the Church and the State to be seriously separated. The Church should be able to say what it wants without arrogantly expecting that this should be reflected in legislation," Bartolo said.

He said that politicians shouldn't feel in any way obliged to do what the Church says, "for fear of offending it".

Bartolo insisted that just how science has today helped the people to improve their quality of life, the same science should be allowed to help childless couples.

Like Bartolo, Owen Bonnici also voiced his criticism against those who called parents who resorted to assisted procreation as "sinners". He said that such statements were "unfair".

Bonnici said he felt very "angry" over the delay to regulate IVF: "The State has the duty and obligation to defend a couple's right to have children. We had the means but not the regulation because of the principled criticism arising from certain sectors."

Ironically, Bartolo's and Bonnici's criticism against those who opposed IVF came on the same day that the Labour Party revealed that PL MP Adrian Vassallo will be making his conscientious objection to IVF clear in parliament. He will however approve amendments to the law by the Opposition.

In their speeches, Zammit, Bonnici and Bartolo reiterated the proposals announced earlier today by the Labour Party in a statement.

The proposed Embryo Protection Bill bans embryo freezing by instead proposing the freezing of ova, and the fertilisation of not more than two eggs with human sperm at each 'fertilisation cycle'.

Labour's is supporting the ban on freezing embryos except in exceptional cases or where the parents die before implantation, but want a better definition of the role of the authority that will oversee who gets access to IVF on the national health service.

Labour is also agreeing on the ban on the donation of sperm and ova, which is already included in the proposed Embryo Protection Bill.

It however says the law should not limit the number of eggs that get fertilized, and that this should be decided by best medical practice according to the consultant overseeing the infertile couple's IVF treatment.