So, the cat is finally out of the bag. Mark Sant and Rosianne Cutajar have declared unequivocally that the embryo is not human.

Dr Sant’s contribution, ‘Eight cells in the Lab’, is full of misconceptions and fallacies of logic. If an embryo is not human, then what is human? How do we define human? When do Dr Sant and Ms Cutajar think that we become human? What scientific evidence does he have to prove that this wondrous event occurs on day X and not on day X+1 or else on day X-1? Should we kill people because they have not made it to the magic goal by a day or a few hours?

Despite his rather late appeal to science, there is absolutely no science behind his claim. When he says that an embryo is not human, he fails to tell us why this is so and at what stage science thinks we become human.

He also accuses the opponents of IVF of being conservative Catholic fanatical bigots. I think most people arguing against the law have been very careful not to bring up religion because we all know that this law cannot be fought on religious grounds in a secular society. The argument is being fought on moral and ethical grounds and it may surprise some people to discover that morality and ethics have got nothing to do with religion. This concept is not exclusive to the Catholic faith.

The whole IVF debate therefore now seems to boil down to the humanity of the embryo. And this has really opened a can of worms. The arguments we are hearing are very similar to those made by the pro-abortion lobby. These people also declare that the baby is not yet human and that we must be pro-choice.

I challenge someone to come up with a convincing argument as to the moment we become human, a moment other than conception

Again, the fallacy of the argument lies in the fact that nobody can decide when we are human and that different countries have different legislations as to when abortion can be permitted. This time is just arbitrary and bears no relation to science.

I challenge someone to come up with a convincing argument as to the moment we become human, a moment other than conception. And yes, the potential “to be” is not equivalent to “being”. That gives us the licence to kill off all comatose patients that have the potential to wake up.

Once we decide that embryos are non-human, we can also declare babies and potentially older people to be non-human with obvious consequences. There can be no doubt that this legislation will leave no surviving obstacle to the introduction of abortion. Once we declare an embryo as non-human we can just shift the timing a bit and declare a 30-week baby to be non-human and abort it.

As a physician I had taken an oath, along with my oft non-religious colleagues, to conserve life. Dr Sant believes that I would be violating that oath by not treating infertile people with all means possible, including surrogacy and the abuse and freezing of our brothers and sisters, the embryos. What cardiac surgeon would take the heart of a healthy living person in order to save a sick patient? The European Charter of Human Rights would probably have something to say about that sort of practice.

I would love the whole IVF debate to occur outside politics. Nas Daily recently declared that our politics comes before our humanity. That word again! Humanity! Maybe Nas has a better concept than we do of what that word means.

I think it has something to do with how we treat our brothers and sisters, those who cannot defend themselves. Maybe, just maybe, while our embryos are human, it is we who are inhuman. We seem to think that because somebody is small, seemingly insignificant, unseen and anonymous and has no vote, we can do whatever we please with him.

The fact that the whole world has gone crazy and has no respect for human life, does not mean that it is progressive to follow their example. I have always been proud that Malta took a stand on this matter and went against the current when it came to pro-choice issues. This country seemed to disagree about everything except on the importance of human life. We used to be united on this issue. Are we now going to lose that one Maltese characteristic that united us?

I too must therefore appeal to our politicians to search their consciences and ask the crucial question – when do we become human? The question is far too important to allow partisan politics to cloud their view.

Mario Stellini is a physician and gastroenterologist.

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