The Nationalist Party will be allowing its MPs a free vote on the newly-proposed IVF bill, Opposition leader Adrian Delia said on Sunday.

Speaking during a short phone-in interview on Radio 101, Dr Delia said there was a healthy debate within the party on the proposed amendments to the current law regulating in-vitro fertilisation.

He invited Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to allow the Labour parliamentary group to have a free vote on the issue as well.

The proposed amendments will, among other things, allow embryo freezing as long as prospective parents agree to give up unclaimed embryos for adoption.

Pointing out that the law currently describes embryos as human beings, he said that it was unfortunate that frozen embryos could be left on the shelf.

“I am both pro-life and pro-choice,” he said, adding that being pro-choice meant speaking out to defend everyone.

“Those who can’t speak for themselves- don’t they have a choice to know who their parents are?” Dr Delia asked.

The proposed IVF law seemed to weigh heavily on Dr Delia’s mind, as he said that he “could not sleep at night” because he was trying to find a balance between helping infertile couples and protecting life from conception.

During the phone-in interview, he questioned whether the new law was going to destroy the current definition of a family or whether there will be a possibility for them to know their parents.

Adding that he had close friends with infertility concerns, he questioned the motivations of the government who was “trying to rush this law.”

Changes to the IVF law will also seek to widen access to treatment for same-sex couples and persons who are single by choice and to launch a public consultation on surrogacy.

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The Opposition leader insisted that surrogacy “commodifies and objectifies” women’s bodies.

Women will become objects and vehicles to carry people’s children, Dr Delia said.

It is unfortunate that the minister defined what “altruistic surrogacy” is, he added.

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“Surrogacy has its own controversies, so let’s not conflate the two together,” Dr Delia said.

He called for stalling the debate until further discussions, so that the party could bring forward further suggestions.

The government was intent on creating a soulless state, he concluded.