The Labour Party said today that while it would back the IVF Bill, Labour MP Adrian Vassallo had expressed his disagreement with the Bill as a matter of conscience, while noting that it was not included in the electoral manifesto on which he was elected. 

Following talks with party leader Joseph Muscat, it was agreed that Dr Vassallo would be free to explain his position during the debate on second reading and he would vote against the Bill in that stage.

He would back amendments proposed by the PL during the committee stage.

Opposition spokesman Michael Farrugia explained the party’s position in parliament yesterday.

He said the Opposition would back the Bill and it agreed with the government on the principles of the Bill, but the Opposition would move some amendments.

In its statement today, the PL said it was wrong that potential parents needed the go-ahead of the new regulatory authority before starting IVF treatment, insisting that was a confidential matter between the couple and their doctor.

It  insisted that the provisions of the Bill should not be a restrictive  ‘one size fits all’ since there could be different requirements according to the medical condition and age of the prospective parents. This also applied to the number of embryos which could be implanted.

The party said it agreed that embryos should be frozen only in extreme emergencies. The law should be clear on what happened to embryos when both prospective parents died. The party also felt the embroys should be given for adoption, since the alternative was destruction.

The PL said IVF services should be provided to prospective parents by the national health service

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.