“Ludicrous and abhorrent” is how the pro-life group Gift of Life’s chief executive, Paul Vincenti, defined the new IVF Bill before Parliament.
“Slowly but surely we have seen a decline in the protection of human life, brought about by small, radical groups that seem to have a hold on the present government,” Mr Vincenti said.
The changes being proposed to the IVF law will allow the freezing of embryos, provided prospective parents agree to give up unclaimed embryos for adoption.
The Gift of Life Foundation said in a statement that it was concerned that many embryos would be destined to remain frozen indefinitely, “creating an enormous ethical dilemma and myriad legal complications”.
Creates an enormous ethical dilemma
The majority of the Maltese population was against the proposals, Mr Vincenti remarked, wondering why they appeared to be so powerless. “It is because we have a government that thinks it has a right to push these things through,” he added.
Mr Vincenti encouraged people to remain hopeful, urging them to sign a parliamentary petition against the new law.
The petition calls for the Embryo Protection Act to remain unchanged. It has attracted more than 5,000 signatures in just under two weeks.
The petition says the law should not be changed, such that life can be protected from conception.
According to the proposed amendments, five eggs can be fertilised. Two of the five resulting embryos will be placed in the womb and the other three will be frozen, the petition points out.
Technology, it notes, does not guarantee that three frozen embryos will live, nor is there any guarantee they will be implanted in a woman’s womb.
The annual IVF report, tabled in Parliament last month, showed that 995 eggs were discarded last year.
The legislation in place permits embryo freezing in exceptional cases, such as when fertilised eggs cannot be transferred to the womb because they cannot be implanted.
Unveiling the proposed amendments last week, Health Minister Chris Fearne said that the Labour parliamentary group supported the changes.
Opposition leader Adrian Delia said Nationalist MPs would be given a free vote on the new IVF law.
Former Labour Cabinet minister George Vella lambasted the amendments, calling them a “travesty of ethics, morality and human dignity”.