Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne has brushed off comments by President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca on the controversial IVF amendments as “a matter of opinion.”

Fearne was being questioned by journalists a day after the President said she had only signed the IVF amendments Bill “out of respect to the constitution.” In a statement released on Thursday, Coleiro Preca made it very clear that she did personally agree with the amendments.

The DPM pointed out that the Attorney General had confirmed that there were no constitutional issues with the amendments. He said he was satisfied that the President had signed the Bill, which had now become law.

Fearne said that, like every other citizen, the President has a right to an opinion. The government, he said, had discussed the amendments with the President and had even taken on board some of her recommendations, even if it had a strong majority in Parliament in favour of the amendments. This, he said, included opening up the consultation process between second and third readings.

Fearne said the President has a constitutional role, which she respected. The government respects her opinion, he reiterated.

On Thursday, the President referred to the nationwide debate on the amendments, adding that she understood both the concerns of pro-life NGOs and the heartache faced by infertile couples.

“After seeking ethical, moral and legal advice from several experts in the field and following a long period of reflection and personal discernment, I have taken the decision to sign the Act. I want to make it clear that this decision in no way compromises my firm views and ethical values on human life, the family and the wellbeing of the unborn child from the moment of conception," she said.

“I am signing the Act, in the form it was presented to me by the Government, solely out of respect and loyalty to my country’s democratic process and to the Constitution, which does not confer upon me legislative functions except that of assenting to Bills when these are already approved by the House of Representatives. Moreover, I am bound to act on the advice of the Government of the day or of a Minister of Government and, in the case of Bills approved by the House of Representatives, to assent thereto without delay.”

The President said she could have travelled abroad while the Bill went through its third reading, but she was not one to shirk her responsibilities.

“I have always believed that every human being’s dignity and physical integrity should be respected from the moment of conception to the grave. Never should any human being, including embryos, be treated as an object or intentionally put at risk. The challenge we face as a society is to continue protecting the weak, including  vulnerable embryos. Our island’s moral fibre is at risk of disintegrating if we disrespect human life at any stage of development,” the President said.