Ms Caruana Galizia’s article “Consider this carefully” on IVF was definitely the best argued and most cogent contribution on the subject so far. (TMIS, 12 June). Other contributors on the media were mostly misinformed and scarce on logic.

May I suggest someone writes an article on the subject what is “life” (sperm and ova are both life); what is human life”; what is a “person” in legal terms. The zygote may be “human life” as the cells are genetically human but it is not a “person” either at law or ethically. These terms have been used in utter confusion during the debate.

This need for definition is also important with regard to the constitutional entrenchment of the criminal provisions on abortion. If the zygote were a person, the use of abortifacient contraceptives like the IUD would constitute abortion. Criminal Law only uses “abortion” in the margin – the text refers to the crime as “procuring a miscarriage on a woman with child”.

Mario Costa