[WATCH] President has ‘no issue’ signing IVF law, Health Minister Chris Fearne says

Health Minister Chris Fearne envisages no problems with President giving assent to the IVF law

There should be no issue when it comes to the President giving her assent to the IVF law, Health Minister Chris Fearne has said.

Asked whether he was certain that President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca would have no objection when it came to signing law, Fearne said that he had spoken to her on a number of occasions on the matter, and did not envisage there to be any problem with her signing it.

The Bill proposing changes to the Embryo Protection Act made it through Parliament's committee stage yesterday and now awaits the final vote on the Third Reading, which is likely to be held next Tuesday.

Last April, Coleiro Preca called for a longer period of reflection on the proposed IVF changes, hinting that she may be uncomfortable with the Bill.

But Fearne said he “sincerely didn’t know” where the “rumour” that there is some problem with the President approving the law came from.

“We discussed the subject with her and took certain changes on board - but there was never the issue of the President not signing the law as it is,” Fearne emphasised.

The government amended its original proposal by withdrawing any reference to surrogacy, which will be presented in a separate Bill. Anonymity on gamete donation has also been partially lifted, with children born this way having the right to know who their biological parents are when they reach 18.