At the moment much discussion is going on, both in the media and elsewhere, about the morality or otherwise of the so-called Fivet method (fertilisation in vitro and embryo transplant) in the case of married couples who have been unable to conceive a child by the normal method through sexual intercourse.

Some of the persons involved in the current debate, mostly doctors, while being very clear when dealing with the method itself and its rate of success, do not seem quite competent when assessing the morality or otherwise of the method in question. The point at issue, as I see it, has to do with the question: ‘Are the embryos that are left over, and which might eventually be frozen to be kept alive, human persons or not?’

I was astounded to hear one member of the panel in the recent Bondi+ programme (which, by the way, is one of the few programmes which I always try not to miss) asserting that right after conception there is already a new life, but not a person! Question: What sort of life can human beings generate if not human life? And can human life be anything else but a person?

Another point that was raised was this: “Every married couple has a right to have a child.” Well and good, provided the right means are chosen. A trite saying of the famous Macchiavelli runs as follows: “The end justifies the means!”

I still have to come across a person who openly holds such a principle today. Putting the life of an embryo (another human being) in danger could not possibly be morally good.

Those who wish to know what the Catholic Church says about this whole matter, could consult the instruction On the respect due to human life at its very beginning issued in 1987 over the signature of the then Cardinal J. Ratzinger. When dealing with the Fivet method, which cannot be morally approved, the document asks the question: “How can a human individual not be at the same time a human person?”

I wish here to take this opportunity to congratulate Sonya Camilleri for her logical thinking and courage to go on holding the moral inadmissibility of the Fivet procedure, even though she might perhaps feel isolated in her views.

Prof. Maurice Eminyan SJ

VALLETTA