The proposed IVF law will allow couples to choose between those who get to be born and those who do not, doctor and Nationalist health shadow minister Stephen Spiteri has warned.

In comments on Facebook made in reaction to the government-proposed amendments to the IVF law, Spiteri said this is discriminatory and goes against the very principles of equality "we boast so much about". 

He hinted that the Nationalist Party might oppose the bill, which MPs will start debating in parliament on Wednesday.

Amendments were tabled in parliament early last month but the Nationalist Party has so far not made its position on the proposals public.

If approved, the bill will enable doctors to perform genetic tests on IVF embryos before they are planted into the womb. They will be on the lookout for certain rare, genetic conditions, such as Huntington's Disease, that the baby might carry and develop later in life.

The testing would allow parents to know of complications their child could have if they went ahead with the implantation of the embryo with a genetic condition, and they would be able to choose not to have that embryo implanted.

Such embryos may be given up for adoption.

"To be selective in conception goes against the equality we boast so much about," Spiteri said, arguing that life is precious and must be protected from before the actual birth.

"Perfection is not the only gauge to success. If we do not keep this in mind from the start, everything will crumble and the rest will be just empty words."

Last month, 13 organisations also declared their stance against the proposed amendments, arguing that what the government is proposing is "nothing short of eugenics" and that the embryos with genetic conditions will probably never be adopted, considering that "in the last two years the stockpile of frozen embryos has risen from 180 to over 300 this year", and none were adopted so far.

But the NGO Doctors for Choice disagreed, saying describing such statements as "an insult to couples with genetic disorders".

"It is heartless to continue telling these disadvantaged couples 'sorry, Malta cannot help you, go get what you need abroad at your own expense.' We can do better than this," they said.

The doctors said the claim that “such methods do not deliver a healthy baby but provide a tool to enable the selection of which baby will live and which baby will be frozen in perpetuity,” shows a lack of a basic understanding of biology", as equating embryos to babies is not scientifically sound.

"Worse still a lack of empathy towards parents seeking to raise children free of exceptional health conditions which have caused suffering in their own families. Embryos are not babies. Most embryos fail to produce a viable pregnancy, let alone a baby.

Last week, Doctors For Life, an NGO grouping pro-life doctors and activists also came out against the proposed bill, arguing that "the law does not eliminate illness but eliminates the ill. It merely identifies the sick ones and discards them".

They suggested that limited screening for genetic conditions could be done on the female eggs before the formation of an embryo, with a method called Polar Body Testing which offers the possibility of detecting an abnormal number of chromosomes as well as maternal single-gene diseases.

Gozo bishop Anton Teuma has also hit out at the proposed law, arguing that while he is in no position to tell the government how to legislate, he felt it is his duty to guide Christians as to what is morally right.

He said there is nothing wrong with testing to improve the health of an embryo, but testing aimed at choosing who gets to be born and who does not is morally wrong, and storing embryos in a bank is like sentencing them to "death forever".

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