Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil yesterday said he could not comment on Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s proposals on embryo freezing until the PM made his intentions clear on the subject.

Dr Muscat declared last week that he will push ahead with plans to re-introduce embryo freezing, which was banned in the 2013 Embryo Protection Act enacted by the PN government.

The Act is currently being reviewed by the Health Ministry. Dr Muscat said on Sunday that, “any IVF law must have the function of freezing to be successful.” He said under the new law the number of eggs that can be fertilized will increase to five. Of these, a maximum of two embryos will be able to be implanted in the mother at one go.

If more than two embryos were produced from those five eggs, the remainder would be frozen so that they can be re-used again by the couple for another cycle. The Prime Minister said the new law would also allow gay women to access the service, something that is not allowed by the current laws.

Speaking to The Malta Independent yesterday, Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil said that it was about time that the Prime Minister stated his full intentions on why and how he wants to change the Embryo Protection Act.

“We are being asked what we think. But what we think on what exactly? We still do not know what the Government intends to do. It is high time for the Prime Minister to clearly spell out what he intends to do.” Dr Busuttil said.

He added, “The Embryo Protection Act was enacted just three years ago by a PN administration and was supported by Dr Muscat himself. And it has been implemented for barely one year. It is for the Prime Minister to explain why it should be changed and how.”

“What we do know is that after just one year, the Embryo Protection Act has already given results which compare favourably with other EU countries. So what is the point of changing it so soon before we allow it to work properly?” Dr Busuttil asked.

On embryo freezing, Dr Busuttil said that this is already allowed by the Embryo Protection Act but in exceptional situations. “It is for the Prime Minister to explain why embryo freezing is necessary if our success rate already compares well with other countries even without it.”