I find Raphael Vassallo’s contribution to your paper entitled Vote Harry, get Tonio (TMIS, 17 December) very shallow and poorly informed. I also believe that he badly needs to read the whole report by the Social Affairs Parliamentary Committee, if not the record of proceedings on IVF. His article is a mess and an example of what he atributes to others, that is, not scientifically informed. I will just deal with one issue as space is limited.
There are two definitions of conception (Norman Ford), one being the active form and the other being the passive one. The active form of conception implies the moment when one has a human being “in act”. That is, one can, in that sense, refer to the statement “moment of conception”. The other meaning of conception, the passive one, can refer to the process of fertilisation which is a specific scientific process. One cannot here talk of the “moment of conception” because here we have a process, that of fertilisation, that can last up to 24 hours. The active form of conception is a much wider concept, than the passive form, as the latter is limited to fertilisation, while the former is not! Therefore I am correct in stating that the human person actually comes into existence at “fertilisation” and also correct by stating that the person comes into existence at “conception”! The narrower correct and better term is fertilisation!
The Bioethics Committee (BCC), of which I am chairman, is set up by the government to advise on matters of bioethics. It is made up of experts not politicians. The House Standing Committee is chaired by Clyde Puli and has nothing at all to do with the BCC, except that we more or less came to the same conclusions and that I sat through most of the proceedings, although I am not a member. Not all politicians are morons!
In case Mr Vassallo has not realised, I am also a scientist and a doctor to boot, which begs the question as to what scientific credentials he is basing his article on! Could it be on the misconception of a misconception of a further misconception!
Dr Michael Asciak
Birkirkara