Malta Lost Its Opposition, Former PN MP Warns As Bernard Grech Makes Major Embryo Testing U-Turn
Former PN MP Edwin Vassallo warned that Malta has “lost its parliamentary opposition” after Opposition Leader Bernard Grech made a U-turn and decided to support an IVF law that allows couples to test embryos for serious genetic disorders.
“Sentimentalism, populism and the egotism of adults triumphed over the value of silent lives today,” Vassallo said.
“Seeing as early lives are so small and insignificant, they have now been discarded. This law will create a marketplace of lives, in which no one cares about the rights of children to be born and grow up in the presence of their parents.”
“Our country lost its democratic opposition today. When it comes to value-based choices, we have now ended up with one government and one party because both government and opposition have succumbed to egoism in the face of populism.”
“We have ended up without a single authority who speaks out in favour of the value of vulnerable and young lives. Those with power have triumphed while the meek have been discarded. Our country has lost its moral authority in the face of populism and the power of money.”
“The lives of young people are now at risk as no one is there to defend them, and in the race for power at any cost, we have lost the significance of a parliamentary opposition.”
Malta’s new IVF law will introduce the concept of PGT-M, allowing prospective parents with a history of hereditary disease to screen their embryos prior to implantation.
While the likes of the UK utilise this same technology to scan embryos for hundreds of conditions, including Down’s Syndrome, cystic fibrosis and Early-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease, Malta will initially limit it to nine serious monogenic disorders, including gangliosidosis and Huntington’s Disease.
However, the nine disorders aren’t laid out in the law but in a protocol issued by the Embryo Protection Authority, which will be able to update the list if it receives a request by a PGT-M clinic on behalf of a prospective parent.
Embryos found with one of these conditions will be cryopreserved and will be offered to the parents or put up for adoption if and when an effective treatment is found.
PN MP Stephen Spiteri
The Opposition had initially planned to come out against this law, with health spokesperson Stephen Spiteri warning that PGT-M breaches the rights of embryos to life. He also argued that while Huntington’s Disease reduces life expectancy and causes significant pain, people can still live with it for a relatively long time.
However, PN MPs seemed uncomfortable taking part in the parliamentary discussion, with only Spiteri and Graziella Galea delivering speeches.
And this evening, Grech confirmed that the Opposition will actually back PGT-M, even for Huntington’s, although he admitted it is extremely unlikely that anyone will voluntarily adopt an embryo with a genetic disorder.
Grech also urged the government to introduce the concept of polar body testing on oocytes as an option for people who object to PGT-M on a moral basis, but Health Minister Chris Fearne noted that the protocol already allows for that possibility.
The bill was given a second reading unanimously and will now move on to the committee stage, where MPs will debate its finer legal aspects, before a final vote is taken.
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