A number of Nationalist MPs say they are “morally” against party leader Adrian Delia’s decision to oppose granting 100 hours of leave to same-sex couples and infertile women seeking IVF treatment abroad.
Legal Notice 156 of 2017 states that an employee undergoing IVF treatment can benefit from up to 60 hours of paid leave with an additional 40 hours for the prospective parent.
Dr Delia submitted a motion demanding an amendment to the legal notice.
“This is something I just will not do. I don’t care what the party line is, to me this is a matter of conscience, and I will vote according to my conscience,” an MP, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Times of Malta.
Three senior members of the PN parliamentary group contacted yesterday said they would not vote in line with the stand taken by the Opposition leader.
“This is definitely a sensitive issue for us as a party, because it is a motion submitted by our own party.
“However I, along with others in the group, disagree in the strongest possible terms,” another MP said.
A third MP recalled the “bitter experience” of the Opposition’s block abstention to the introduction of same-sex unions in 2014, saying “the party should not relive that trauma”.
When he was elected PN leader, Dr Delia said that issues of conscience would be put to a free vote. However, according to members of the parliamentary group, he was arguing that this was not a matter of conscience and expected all MPs to toe the line.
To me this is a matter of conscience, and I will vote according to my conscience
A spokesman for Dr Delia said yesterday the parliamentary group would be meeting to discuss the matter today. The Embryo Protection Act prohibits same-sex couples from being given access to medically assisted procreation.
Dr Delia has said the legal notice granting such rights to same-sex couples seeking IVF treatment abroad was not in line with the law and the party was merely seeking to eliminate a legal anomaly. A party spokesman later said the issue was a legal rather than a moral or ethical one.
Nationalist MPs opposing Dr Delia’s stand on the matter told the Times of Malta that the 100 hours of leave being offered by the government was just a small concession granted as social justice measure.
They argued that not only was the treatment lawful but it was also offered in line with the ethical and legal safeguards established by the applicable foreign laws.
The MPs, who insisted on anonymity, also said that while they themselves would not toe the line, there were a number of colleagues who shared their views but who put loyalty to the party first.
They said some of them had even minuted their objection to the PN submitting such a motion. MP Therese Comodini Cachia last month openly expressed her objections to the motion. Contacted yesterday, she said her position had not changed.