The Cana Movement yesterday reiterated its stance that accepting the principle that “couples have a right to a child” diminishes the value of love as being the gift of self without the expectation of a tangible result. The Cana Movement warned that “reducing one’s quest for happiness to the desire of the child project is a reduction of man’s ultimate desires and humanity”.

The declaration was made in a 19-page memo prepared by lawyer Robert Tufigno that the movement published yesterday in reaction to the Embryo Protection Bill, which is set to be debated in Parliament in the coming weeks.

The movement said that this implication could have been easily avoided had the Bill chosen the term “permit” the use of IVF, rather than “granting this right”.

The movement criticises the Bill as it does not restrict IVF “to cases of sterility or impotence in married couples” but rather widens the procedure to all heterosexual couples. According to the Cana Movement, such a decision conveys the message that “the wanted child is a commodity that may be procured, albeit at a high cost – emotional, financial and relational − from a clinic”.

The memo says that the expectation of a result implies that the gift of self is not gratuitous and the result is not desired for its own sake, but as the satisfaction of a need, however noble.

The author stresses this point further, citing the issue of abortion. “A corollary of such an approach would be that if a child is not desired, or if a ‘parental’ project” ceases to exist,” he said, “then there should be no reason why it should not be destroyed or abandoned. This type of reasoning has in various jurisdictions justified resort to abortion.”

The memo lashed out at the Bill as it claims it will undermine the traditional marriage between a man and a woman and makes it easier for homosexual couples to have children.

It points out that “the Bill nowhere prohibits heterologous artificial insemination”. In addition it says that there is no requirement for the prospective parents to be married in a stable relationship.

As a result it argues that the recognition of “couples who are in a stable relationship at par with married couples, significantly undermines marriage as the socially preferred basis for stable families”.

The Cana Movement said that the Bill paves the way for accepting the principle that the conjugal act is not necessary for procreation, and introduces “an argument in favour of same sex couples to claim discrimination”.

The memo observes that in the period leading to the publication of the Bill, ministers publicly justified the legality of IVF on the grounds that it provides a solution to couples desiring a child, but are unable to conceive. However it claims that this reason is nowhere stated in the text of the Bill.

Another criticism levelled at the Embryo Bill is that the authority, which is to regulate IVF practices, is regarded as toothless.

“Broadly speaking the Authority’s functions, as listed by the law, falls very short of effectively ensuring regulation and the proper observance of the law. The general impression given is that the authority is mainly an agency of moral value, but with no real power to regulate IVF and protect the embryo.”

The memo notes that the Bill does not empower the authority to suspend or revoke any licence, or any professional warrant in cases of any breaches of law. It also comments that fines are too lenient when compared to those of Italy and Germany.

The Cana Movement said this Bill is an opportunity for the state to expressly recognise and acknowledge the status of the embryo as a human person. However, it notes that once abortion in Malta is illegal, “one would have expected that the Bill would have included a provision that acknowledges the embryo’s status of a human person or subject from the moment of fertilisation”.

On the other hand, it criticised the Bill for defining the embryo as a process and not as a subject. It claims that the embryo itself is excluded from the definition of embryo, highlighting the fact that in some parts of the Bill the “embryo” is considered as a “product”.

The Cana Movement said that social changes are contributing to pregnancies at an older age, claiming that this will result in a bigger demand for IVF. In such circumstances it suggests that authorities should consider “family policies that encourage and help young couples start a family earlier in life and thus contribute to a demographic balance and intergenerational solidarity”.