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2 maltatoday EXECUTIVE EDITOR Matthew Vella mvella@mediatoday.com.mt Letters to the Editor, MaltaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt Letters must be concise, no pen names accepted, include full name and address maltatoday | SUNDAY • 2 MAY 2021 An imperfect IVF law, undermined by party-politics Editorial A minor 'spat' between Health Minister Chris Fearne and Opposition leader Bernard Grech, over pro- posed amendments to IVF legislation, has once again highlighted how even the most delicate, sensitive is- sues end up being used as weapons in a political war. The subject now, if the government does forge ahead with its bold move, is PGD testing, which is employed in in vitro fertilisation to test embryos for hereditary diseases. The marvellous science helps prospective parents avoid the hereditary transmission of incurable diseases. Already, the prospect is being foolishly weap- onised by lobbies such as 'pro life' doctors: in a shame- ful statement this week Doctors For Life had the gall to reassure sufferers of cystic fibrosis that they could look forward to a life expectancy of 50... so ignore the sci- ence that reduces suffering! Indeed, the tragedy of Malta's fertility 'policy' (had there been one) is that it remains at the mercy of our politicians, and the sway of our main political parties. To wit, in 2011, the Gonzi administration had dismem- bered Malta's semi-regulated IVF regime with a system which, in the words of the then prime minister, "helped us overcome difficulties of conscience". It was the Byzantine technology to freeze eggs, rath- er than embryos, despite a committee of doctor-MPs clearing the way for both sides to consider embryo freezing rules in 2009. In bid to spike that push, Gonzi tasked the conservative MP Edwin Vassallo, who chaired the social affairs committee, to reopen the de- bate on embryo freezing in 2011: at the suggestion of a pro-life 'lobby' called Professionals Against Embryo Freezing (the same members are now part of Life Net- work Foundation). The move was clearly designed to contradict the committee findings of Nationalist MP Jean-Pierre Far- rugia. And the resulting legislation was aimed more at assuaging the conscience of pro-life politicians… than to address the health needs of a small and vulnerable minority. When elected in 2013, Labour was slow to use its par- liamentary weight to reverse the damage of the Nation- alist administration's conscientious objections: which then limited IVF to just a maximum of two fertilised eggs, by banning any form of embryo freezing (and therefore any excess of embryos beyond two fertilised eggs). With its amendments in 2018, any adult person, irre- spective of gender or sexual orientation, could qualify for IVF – namely all women, including singles and les- bians. Additionally, up to five embryos could be fertil- ised, with a maximum of two implanted in any cycle. Embryo freezing allowed prospective parents to have more embryos from the same cycle of harvesting to be implanted. However, pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) as well as research using embryos, remained illegal. And now, the change mooted by Fearne sets the stage for a tricky legislative debate on introducing PGD into what is already an imperfect IVF law, limited as it is by faith-based consciences of lawmakers, when it should be serving couples seeking full fertility treatment. The reason is simple: PGD opens up a scenario for more eggs to be fertilised, and for embryos to be dis- carded or used for research and training. So Labour must tweak the IVF law and bring it up to modern standards, if it also wants to include PGD testing for those couples who want to have children free of rare, incurable, hereditary diseases. In such cases, there must perforce be allowed a sub- stantial over-stimulation of ova. After harvesting, it will be from those fertilised eggs that doctors will have to make an important choice: keeping 'best quality' em- bryos for implantation, which are free from the hered- itary disease. That in itself will mandate discarding the embryos carrying the disease, or freezing them indefinitely. It is a prospect that is expected to raise opposition from conservative quarters in parliament, as well as external lobbies. But PGD testing is the reason why certain IVF couples in Malta must take recourse to fer- tility treatment abroad: carrying out over-stimulation in Malta, before harvesting, fertilising, testing and im- planting in a facility overseas. As "challenged" by Chris Fearne, the Opposition would have to walk its talk by accepting that, just as it complained about IVF couples paying for their ex- pensive medication before getting state-paid fertility treatment… then by the same reasoning, it should accept that no Maltese couple should be forced to go abroad for PGD testing, and therefore for IVF treat- ment. But the challenge to government will be the forced prospect of creating more frozen embryos, as well as the discarding of unwanted embryos. Yes, MPs will be faced with the ethics of what to do with unwanted frozen embryos; (though even detractors of sound IVF science are aware that freezing unwanted embryos in- definitely, will ultimately lead to their death anyway.) At this stage, the Labour administration must take a good hard look at its IVF law, and bring it up to the same legislative gold-plated standard it achieved with various civil rights. In short, it must guarantee that the same level of safety and security accorded to so many other citizens, is offered to prospective parents who want top-notch, science-based fertility treatment with PGD testing: without the conscientious hang-ups of MPs who jump through hoops to create 'Malta-style' laws, attempting to square the circle of science. This is, ultimately, a medical issue; and it should be discussed in medical – not political – terms. 1 May 2011 Sandro Chetcuti case: Farrugia texted journalists THE compilation of evidence in the case of former GRTU member Sandro Chetcuti – who is accused of the alleged attempted mur- der of GRTU director-general Vincent Farru- gia – has taken a completely new twist after a series of texted messages sent and received by Farrugia have become part of the Court pro- ceedings. Messages sent by Vince Farrugia to various sections of the press and opinion-makers, as well as contacts with a third person who indicated he would contact the Police Com- missioner on the case, are being interpreted as 'undue influence' to inflate the scuffle with Chetcuti into an attempted murder charge against him. A court-appointed medical expert, Dr Mario Scerri, reported that the injuries sustained by Farrugia were not of a grievous nature, con- tradicting evidence by a medical witness – Dr Anthony Samuel – who said that a bone scan made 11 days after the incident showed that there were slight cracks in Farrugia's ribs. Serious questions are being raised over the reason why this bone scan was made, when the X-rays of the ribs taken immediately after the incident showed no cracks. Medical sourc- es said it is not normal medical procedure for bone scans to be taken on suspected rib fractures, as the result would not influence the type of medical treatment given in the case of fractured ribs. The background of the text messages are now part of the compilation proceedings – which is even more intriguing. The incident between Chetcuti and Farrugia was sparked off by a text message meant for Opposition leader Joseph Muscat, and which Chetcuti sent to Vincent Farrugia by mistake. Farrugia claims that this message showed that Chetcuti – who was then a GRTU council member – was giving confidential information on the GRTU to Muscat, and an argument en- sued when Chetcuti went to Farrugia's office to explain what had happened. Both Chetcuti and Farrugia's mobile phones were requested by the court as part of the evidence relevant to the case. 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