Health Minister Chris Fearne on Tuesday evening said he was “proud” to be spearheading reforms to IVF laws which will open up the process to single parents and same-sex couples as well as extend embryo freezing.
Speaking to Times of Malta as he was entering parliament, Mr Fearne said the government had consulted, listened to people’s concerns and modified the amendments to the Embryo Protection Bill as a result.
His pride in the legal amendments, which are set to be passed by parliament later on Tuesday, was not echoed by the roughly 20 protesters who gathered outside parliament in Valletta.
Holding placards reading “Don’t freeze me” and “I am not an object”, the objectors stood silently as MPs began trickling into the House.
Life Network Foundation chairperson Miriam Sciberras dismissed the government consultation process as a “fake” one.
Earlier in the day, Dr Sciberras wrote an open letter to Mr Fearne warning him that he was risking “the lives of many embryos” by moving the amendments.
Eleanor Borg from the Gift of Life Foundation expressed dismay and said that the saddest thing about the reform was that it would impact those without a voice – embryos – the most.
In comments before the vote, Health Minister Chris Fearne, who piloted the bill, said he was “proud” to be spearheading reforms to IVF laws which would open up the process to single parents and same-sex couples as well as extend embryo freezing.
In comments to Times of Malta as he was entering parliament, Mr Fearne said the government had consulted, listened to people’s concerns and modified the amendments to the Embryo Protection Bill as a result.
Opposition leader Adrian Delia said he and the other PN members would be voting against the amendments.
The Opposition, he said, was against anything that led to the destruction of life.
The government, he said, had ridiculed public concerns. The law was unacceptable, as it gave a minister the power to decide who should be born and who should not.
“This is a law that strips our society of its humanity,” he said. It also destroyed the concept of the family and created a 'soulless state'.
Fielding questions from reporters, Dr Delia said a future Nationalist government would revoke any laws that led to the destruction of human life.
Asked if he would support a referendum to do away with the reform, he said he would have to see how such a referendum would be put forward.