IVF Bill approved as Opposition drops amendment
The IVF Bill cleared the committee stage of the parliamentary process today, with the Opposition saying that it did not want to hold-up the process and risk all the work being lost if parliament was dissolved once the Budget was presented. The Bill was later also given a third reading.
During the debate this afternoon, Labour MP Owen Bonnici withdrew a proposed Opposition amendment which would have allowed surrogacy in exceptional cases, such as when as when a woman whose eggs would have been frozen was suddenly incapacitated. The Opposition had suggested that in such cases, the woman should be able to choose a surrogate mother.
At one stage the Opposition suggested a postponement of the vote for further talks with the government, but Dr Bonnici later withdrew the amendment, with Labour MP George Vella saying he feared that if the conclusion of the debate was delayed, all the work done would be wasted if the House was dissolved.
Earlier in the debate, as expected, Health Minister Joseph Cassar moved an amendment which retains the number of eggs which may be implanted during IVF treatment at two, but which makes an exception to allow the implantation of three eggs in exceptional cases, such as the age of the prospective mother.
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32 Comments
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Mary Pace
Nov 27th 2012, 08:44
To all of you that think that this is over PL declared that they will tackle surrogacy in the next legislature. If these are their priorities we are going to be worse off then we are! @T.Mifsud and P. Vincenti than the mother should not have taken the risk in the first place by using IVF.
John Scerri
Nov 27th 2012, 08:36
Regulation of IVF is one issue.
Surrogacy is another topic with it's own ethical issues.
Women can be surrogate mothers for various reasons not just IVF so this topic must be discussed on it's own merit.
Parliament should first approve the Law regulating IVF since IVF is being already practiced for about 20years.
One must take things step by step on such delicate issues.
J Micallef
Nov 26th 2012, 23:32
Funny, how whenever this subject of IVF comes up, our dear The Times never bring a picture of a bouncing baby, but instead we get pictures of laboratories, pipettes and medical trays. Seems like the Editor is focusing more on the procedure, and totally forgetting why all this is being done - procreation.
I would have expected better from The Times.
E Schembri
Nov 27th 2012, 10:48
@J Micallef
Procreation? For every IVF born baby are one or two sacrificed babies!
How about a picture of the dead embryos/babies that are the statistical result of the IVF procedure?
Or do you only want to see one side of the coin so as not to trouble your conscience?
J Micallef
Nov 27th 2012, 21:26
@ E Schembri - you are repeating the argument used by scaremongers who give the impression that IVF practice in Malta is some sort of production line with embryos as a by product, you can't understand or appreciate the respect towards life in the process of IVF.
In my family's case, we only managed to have an embryo planted each time while IVF was only trying to help nature.
Mary Pace
Nov 26th 2012, 21:08
Who is going to pay the surrogate mother? will it be paid from our taxes and they say that they are going to spend wisely. So according to the Pl it is ok to create more than three embryos because of more success in fertilization with the risk of either the health of the mother or of destroying the unwanted ones but to save one embryo you are opening a can of worms. No vote who is proposing it.
LUKE FARRUGIA
Nov 26th 2012, 21:01
I have never voted labour in my life but i admired the way they tackled this highly technical debate. most of the changes in the law reflected the amendments which they brought forward at the end they acted maturely and saved the bill from becoming obsolete by sacrificing one of their own amendments. as a medical doctor i was very impressed.
Joseph Mizzi
Nov 26th 2012, 20:54
Thanks to all members of parliament for working together and agreeing on the IVF bill.
As a paediatrician, I'm glad that the principle of two embryo transfer, with exceptions, has been approved, and this to limit the risks to babies born through IVF.
David Vella
Nov 26th 2012, 20:53
Issa x'jonqos, d-divorzju ghadda, l-Ivf kwazi, sirna pajjiz jikkopja l-hmerijiet ta l-ohrajn. Dizgrazzja meta titlef fiducja ta kull partit ezistenti fejn l-valuri umani mhumiex ikkalkulati!!!
P. Vincenti
Nov 26th 2012, 19:45
The PL did not suggest a blanket surrogacy policy but one restricted to very extreme situations.
I do not agree with it all the same as it will create all manner of serious problems later on. These include what if the surrogate refuses to give up the child after the pregnancy? What if the biological parents divorce in those 9 months and no longer want the child?
Richard Caruana
Nov 26th 2012, 19:25
So the bright JM 'sacrifices' his amendments and allows a law that he himself described as 'humiliating' to pass through parliament.
What an amateurish lot! Lord help us come the next elections.
P. Vincenti
Nov 26th 2012, 19:46
Richard, please do not see blue or red but try and view this situation more objectively. It is not right to politicize this issue.
Richard Caruana
Nov 26th 2012, 20:30
I've been very objective but cannot stand seeing the PL's opportunism and double face strategies that will eventually harm this country immensely.
Blue red or orange, this was a bill that sooner or later everyone will be involved. First calling it humiliating and then dropping everything as if nothing matters is nothing but playing with voters' emotions.
Shame
John Gatt
Nov 26th 2012, 19:11
Labour never changes. An incompetent lot which wants us to believe them that they can run the country all they will do is ruin the country!
Tarcisio Mifsud
Nov 26th 2012, 19:22
What are you writing about? Never changes what? PL has decided to withdraw the amendment which had a lot of logic. Now if the mother gets ill, the embryos would die. This when we talk a lot about Life which starts at conception stage. We are surely not consistent on this issue.
George Cutajar
Nov 26th 2012, 19:43
@ Tardcisio Mifsud - what logic? As usual Labour took a look around and withdrew their amendmend citing the impending budget as an excuse. The reality is that their proposal would have lost them sympathy and not gained them any votes so they just pulled back to look good with the people.
Carmel (Nenu) Aquilina
Nov 26th 2012, 20:53
Prositt Ġorġ, ilqat il-musmar fuq rasu!
Philip Grech
Nov 26th 2012, 20:57
The only problem is that this unstable government cannot come up with a dissolution date, so what is already achieved cannot be risked.
Gerry Cowie
Nov 26th 2012, 18:50
Now the way is paved for this legislation, albeit not perfect, to proceed and allow Malta to show the entire world the dignity and respect which should be afforded to the human being from that point at which scientists agree that life begins. This is a heroic step given the worrying approach pushed by humanists in particular, trying to reduce the human being to "a meaningless bunch of cells".
George Cutajar
Nov 26th 2012, 18:38
The PL used the budget as an excuse to withdraw the proposed amendmend introducing the concept of surrogacy when in reality they withdrew it as they knew it would have created problems of an ethical nature which would have been unacceptable.
James Ellul
Nov 26th 2012, 18:45
exactly as I thought ...too predictable!!!
Tarcisio Mifsud
Nov 26th 2012, 19:26
Surely gonzipn should have established this law 20 years ago, and surely when Mater Dei Hospital was issued. Gonzipn only moved when Joseph Muscat announced that the IVF law would be the first to be established if PL was elected. Surely the delay by gonzipn cannot be put at the door of the PL. Where is your logic George Cutajar?
P. Vincenti
Nov 26th 2012, 19:37
George, it is important that nobody tries to score political kudos in this affair. What is important is that the PL acted correctly and avoided that the entire law was relegated to history.
George Cutajar
Nov 26th 2012, 20:55
@ P Vincenti - Labour should have come clean and not declare that they were withdrawing the amendment not to derail the budget. Their declaration clearly implies that if it were not for the budget they would have insisted on it.
That in my view is simply playing to the masses.
James Ellul
Nov 26th 2012, 18:29
Choosing a surrogate mother????
and the below are congratulating the PL.
How on earth can we start using people as factories, producing children for others? Who would be the actual mother in such a case? The PL really have no conscience and no respect to the value of life ...then again maybe they came to their senses and withdrew the ammendment
Matthew Psaila
Nov 26th 2012, 18:44
in this case, neither the PN do....
James Ellul
Nov 26th 2012, 19:15
Matthew Psaila,
In this case if the PN did not have a conscience then they would have added the amendment themselves,
....and in any case this is not a case of PN/LP ....but a case of human value!!!
P. Vincenti
Nov 26th 2012, 19:36
The PL were not asking for blanket surrogacy but only in very extreme situations when the mother cannot have her embryo transferred into her own womb and a relative steps in to volunteer to have her embryo transferred but returned to the original mother at birth.
I personally do not agree with this but it is not fair to give the wrong impression about what the PL proposed.
N Chetcuti
Nov 26th 2012, 21:54
The mother would be the one who gives the child a good up bringing and a home otherwise you may also ask who's the mother of an adopted child. In other countries mothers and even sister have volunteered to be surrogates. What's wrong with that if the person is in no position to conceive.
John L Galea
Nov 27th 2012, 08:01
@James Ellul: I wonder how people like you boast of being ignorant and bigot. Obviously since the PL tabled a pro-life amendment, then it's bad if the GOnziPN tables a stupidity then it's heaven.
Carmelo Sammut
Nov 26th 2012, 18:19
Prosit tassew ghal maturita tal PL illum assistejna ghal okkazjoni ohra fejn Pl wera tassew li huwa movument tassew matur
P. Vincenti
Nov 26th 2012, 17:45
The PL showed great maturity today is withdrawing their amendment to avoid the whole bill being scuttled.
We listened to the debate and Government and the opposition worked very well together on this act.
We are still waiting for the Government to explain why they have not tackled the problem of the punishments attached to this law. The overall punishments in the Animal Welfare Act are harsher
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