Labour MP Adrian Vassallo dubs liberals ‘pigs’ in IVF debate

Adrian Vassallo, the self-styled 'conservative' Labour MP, said that he will vote against the IVF bill in its second reading in Parliament because the law is immoral and unethical.

Vassallo, who is not new to controversy, said the law is ethically and morally unacceptable, describing the draft law as "a random system which treats life in an unacceptable way, both ethically and morally."

"Liberals do not believe in anything, anything goes for them and have no respect for anyone, including themselves. I might be a dinosaur but I respect life. If I am a dinosaur, then liberals are pigs," Vassallo said.

Vassallo, a family doctor, said that he will vote against the bill in its second reading because it is unacceptable to treat life in such a way. However he did not explain whether he will vote against the law in the final vote.

"The ethics and morals I hold do not allow me to vote for this bill.  If the law is approved, we all know what will happen. Tomorrow, I will enjoy the insults that I will receive tomorrow from my liberal friends," Vassallo said in his concluding remarks.

In his intervention, Vassallo explained that the end result of IVF is good but asked whether the means justifies the end. He said that the treatment is not a natural process and results in large quantities of life dying out with large quantities of embryos classified as non-viable.

He said the success rate in the eighties was 10% and has now gone up to 30%, stressing that the treatment ends up ending life after creating it because it is not a natural process.

Vassallo tabled a report and other information downloaded from Internet and said he was providing proof that IVF was "probably immature and an experimental technology."

The MP questioned how the law will define stable relationships, since the draft law states that the treatment will be made available to married couples and couples in a stable relationship.

Vassallo warned that if the treatment is offered to unmarried couples it will create problems because married couples offer a more stable environment then unmarried couples to their children

"This will lead to gay couples making use of the law, because they will profit from the loopholes in the law," Vassalo said.  

Warning that the law will be a "free for all," Vassallo added that  children born out of IVF have lower intelligence quotients, have twice as many chances of developing problems in learning languages, suffer from impaired sight and a number of other ailments.

On his part, Labour MP George Vella said the law regulating IVF will "take us from a situation where not controls existed to an over regulated situation."

Opening the sitting's debate, Vella pointed out that he does not agree with the name of the law, Embryo Protection Bill, because the law must ensure the protection from the beginning to end of process, from the creation of the embryo to birth.

"This would protect the unborn child in a comprehensive way including nutrition, effects of radiation, health and safety issues at the work place and abortion," Vella said.

He said laws regarding abortion, and even conditions on the work place should be consolidated into a single law.

"The bill speaks of the embryo but it also concerns the stages before an embryo is created, therefore the bill should be entitled: 'An Act for the Protection of Human Embryos during Procedures and Technologies Used in Assisted Reproduction'."

Vella added that the bill does not include a definition of medically assisted procreation, and noted that  is not clear whether different types of assisted procreation will be regulated. 

"There are no political divisions on the law but differences exist on terminology and details.  Science does not create life, but it aids nature when things cannot happen naturally," Vella said.

While saying that there is nothing morally wrong with IVF, Vella said that he respects those against IVF. Yet, Vella likened IVF  to aggressive treatments used in transplant of organs from one patient to another.

The former PL leader said doctors should be free to decide what is the best treatment for patients including how many fertilized eggs are implanted.

The MP pointed out that he is against the freezing of fertilized eggs because he said life should be respected. "What will happen if the first attempt is successful," Vella asked.  However he said that he is in favour of freezing unfertilized eggs in the light of the scientific developments in the field.

Vella concluded that he is not against the freezing of embryos because he is conservative but because he respects life.

Labour MP Justyne Caruana  stressed that she agrees with IVF and added that she would have recurred to such treatment if she could not have children naturally.

The Gozo MP said the draft bill is "insensitive," and insisted that specialists and doctors should decide the best treatment for patients and not the board appointed by government.  

She also called for changes in the adoption laws to protect the embryos and the unborn child.

The last speaker of the evening, Nationalist MP Jean-Pierre Farrugia said that medical records will confirm the stability of the relationship between couples.

He also warned of the dangers posed by multiple insemination and said that parents should have the choice of whether two or three embryos are implanted.

The Floriana MP said that since IVF was introduced in Malta, 63 children were born as triplets, and out of these 9 have died since.  

Farrugia explained that some institutions in the UK are now introducing the concept of single embryo transfer, which mitigates the risks of having triplets or twins.