Labour Leader Joseph Muscat disagrees with the use of the morning-after pill even in exceptional circumstances such as rape.

Dr Muscat said he disagreed with any method that ended life at any stage.

He was speaking during a meeting with a delegation of youths who had suggested the use of the morning-after pill in rape cases.

But Dr Muscat, who campaigned strongly on the back of his progressive credentials when vying for Labour's top post, said he had reservations about this motion.

The youths had participated in a special Parliament sitting on Wednesday and passed a resolution saying the morning-after pill could only be used in an exceptional circumstance, such as rape. They had agreed that the pill should remain illegal but could be prescribed by hospital professionals after it was established that a woman was raped.

Dr Muscat told the youths he and his wife went through a very difficult time after she had miscarried. As a result, he could not accept any method, including the morning-after pill, that stopped life.

He agreed with another of the youths' proposals dealing with in-vitro fertilisation and called for bioethics legislation that would not restrict treatment for infertile couples but enable it.

On this point, the Youth Parliament had passed a resolution saying that IVF should only be offered to married, infertile heterosexual couples.