The Social Affairs Committee met last week to continue discussing the proposals on biotechnology and assisted reproduction before presenting them before parliament.
The Labour Parliamentary Group believe that biotechnology and assisted reproduction is still in need of further discussion by both parties and by society, said Labour MP Marie Louise Coleiro. She added that the discussion should be continued after the summer recession. “If no more time is given, then Labour MPs will not be in a position to discuss it,” she said.
However, Nationalist MP Clyde Puli – who is chairman of the Social Affairs Committee – pointed out that after seven months of discussion, the time has come to take a decision. He claimed that it was not right that members of the opposition had “left the room in this way, and if there had been a more consistent attendance from the members of the opposition the discussion would have been more varied.”
As a sign of protest, the two members of opposition present during the debate left the room.
Mr Puli explained that once the law was implemented, changes could be made through a legal notice – “in this way we are creating a compromise between the law which is conservative and progress.”
Among the proposals put forward by the committee was that the fertilised ovum will be given the status of embryo not later than conception. “We are not accepting the 14 day theory, but the definition we put forward has to be clearly defined in parliament,” he added. Counselling should be provided after and before any form of assisted reproduction.
Mr Puli also called for an immediate effort to create separate waiting areas for couples undergoing treatment at St Luke’s Hospital.
Research on adult stem cells is acceptable. However, the creation of embryos for research should be prohibited.
Cells extracted from the umbilical cord and placenta can be used for research, while cells from a natural miscarriage can be used only with the permission of the parents.
Genetic diagnosis should be allowed on condition that it is used for medical and forensic reasons only, or to correct specific abnormalities in the embryo. The diagnosis can only be used to benefit the embryo and always when the benefits are much higher than the risk. More importantly, it can only take place with the parents’ consent.
Pre-implantation diagnosis should not be allowed. Pre-natal testing should be allowed if there is a possibility of the parents passing on a genetic disease to their children. Polar-body biopsy should be allowed only in the case of a serious illness.
Human cloning should be prohibited on all counts, even for therapeutic purposes.
Assisted procreation should be allowed under certain conditions: third party donors and surrogate motherhood should not be allowed. The minimum number of embryos should be fertilised and implanted immediately. Embryos which are about to be destroyed can be adopted by other parents.
The storage of embryos should be prohibited, unless certain circumstances do not allow immediate implantation. In this case, the embryos must be stored in a way that will not harm them and the parents must do their utmost to implant them or else they will be held criminally responsible. Mr Puli suggested that in cases where the parents are not able to use the embryos – due to the mother’s death, for example – these embryos can be put up for adoption according to Maltese law.
Mr Puli also called for statistics on assisted reproduction in Malta and suggested that the government should start procedures to collect data. He also suggested that the complete IVF process should be offered by the state hospital.
“There should be more focus on bioethics in medical school,” Mr Puli suggested.
Nationalist MP Michael Gonzi called for more communication between all those involved in the process of assisted procreation and St Luke’s, to fully protect children born through assisted reproduction.