Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/567101
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 6 SEPTEMBER 2015 News 7 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The prime minister said that under the new law that is to be proposed, the number of eggs that can be ferti- lized will increase to five. Of these fertilized eggs, a maxi- mum of two embryos will be able to be implanted in the mother at one go. In IVF, it is never a guarantee that each single egg that gets harvested from a woman, will eventually pro- duce an embryo once fertilized. Muscat told MaltaToday that if out of those five eggs, more than two embryos are produced, the re- mainder will be frozen so that they can be re-used again by the couple for another cycle. The Embryo Protection Author- ity will also assume responsibility for those frozen embryos that are not used, if the couple goes beyond its fertility age. They will be offered up for adoption. If the couple does not wish the embryos to be adopted, it can file a court application so that a judge takes a decision on the matter. Muscat also said that the new law would, contrary to the present leg- islation, allow gay women to access the service. "This law will give the opportu- nity for more couples to be able to form families, and for gay women couples to have children and start their own family." MaltaToday understands that surrogacy will not be introduced in the new law. At the time of the previous law, Muscat had argued that the gov- ernment's Embryo Protection Act was a half-baked IVF law "full of horrifying concepts and which was humiliating to parents, children and the medical profession". But he had also pointed out that the Embryo Protection Act actually introduced the concept of embryo freezing for exceptional circum- stances. "This enjoyed wide parlia- mentary consensus and destroyed the myth that IVF or embryo freez- ing was equivalent to abortion." Health parliamentary secretary Chris Fearne said that IVF success rates will be further increased by having both freezing of embryos and eggs available on the NHS. "Embryo freezing, together with the provision for ova and sperm donation, will increase the success rate of IVF and offer the possibil- ity of forming a family to a larger number of couples. The new Act will open the availability of IVF to gay female couples and to single mothers." Between January 2013 and June 2015, 411 IVF and ICSI (intracy- toplasmic sperm injection) cycles were carried out in Malta, 81 of them in the new IVF clinic at Mater Dei Hospital. In total, 116 viable pregnancies have resulted from these cycles – an overall success rate of 28%, which compares well to the latest figure published by the UK Human Fertilization & Embryo Authority (HFEA) – 25% in 2011. Opposition from the Church Labour's decision to forge ahead with the review of the law is bound to find opposition from the Maltese Catholic Church, as well as pro-life lobby Life Network which on Sat- urday claimed that embryo freezing would open the doors to abortion. In 2012, Malta's bishops sounded their opposition to the legal regu- lation of IVF in a pastoral letter in which they declared that every technical method that replaces the personal conjugal act "is not ac- ceptable". In an appeal to MPs, the bishops – then led by Archbishop Paul Cre- mona – said an IVF law had to be based on "natural law". "A law which does not safeguard these values is morally wrong... For this reason, men of goodwill who are responsible to draw up legisla- tion are duty-bound in conscience to try and achieve the best possible benefits, or as far as possible, to mitigate dangers." The Maltese church will also op- pose the idea of putting up frozen embryos for adoption. In 2012 it had said that this was not a solution because "serious complications of a medical, psychological and legal nature may arise [and because of] greater ethical problems." In explaining their opposition, the bishops had said that IVF involves the creation of several embryos and that even though some die a natu- ral death shortly fertilisation, these were "being sacrificed and instru- mentalized so that a child may be born." "The embryo, even while it is fro- zen, is still in possession of certain inalienable rights. A democratic society is duty-bound to oversee that the laws which protect these embryos are observed." PN stand on IVF The Nationalist Party will be the one to watch when it comes to vot- ing on IVF. So far, its women's branch, the MNPN, has rubbished proposals from their Labour counterparts in favour of embryo freezing as "kite- flying" for the Prime Minister's eventual Bill legislating embryo freezing. The MNPN accused Muscat of hiding behind Nisa Laburisti to manipulate public opinion over changes to IVF laws. "The out-of- the-blue statement by the Labour Women in the thick of summer shows Muscat's way of doing poli- tics. He prefers to hide behind the non-functioning Labour Women's outfit to fly a kite and manipulate public opinion instead of coming clean and telling the people what he thinks," the MNPN said. You don't have to be Jewish to be a victim of anti- Semitism I Matthew Barbara carried my LEAP Project traineeship scheme with St Paul Bay Local Council. I must confirm that this was a positive experience as I assisted in general road maintenance helping to ameliorate my community's environment. This experience has given me the opportunity to enter into a new routine and learn new things. In fact this experience helped me improve my communication skills and integrate more in society. I became more confident to the extent that I participated in the local council election, for which I have been elected a councillor. ESF 3.234 LEAP PROJECT mfss.gov.mt/leap Operational Programme II – Cohesion Policy 2007-2013 Empowering People for More Jobs and a Better Quality of Life Project part-financed by the European Union European Social Fund (ESF) Co-financing rate: 85% EU Funds; 15% National Funds Investing in your future My name is Paul Micallef and I am 23 years old. I would like to thank the LEAP Project for offering the eight- month training venture that greatly improved my employability skills. Now I am happily employed on a full- time basis with a private company. Josephine Agius - Senior Social Mentor My role within the LEAP project was to aid beneficiaries acquire new skills to be able to improve their social status. Many managed to take up the challenge. JOEL Rubinfeld, says that Ste- fan Grech's assault on an Ital- ian employee of the institu- tions highlights the growing number of attacks on non-Jews informed by anti-Semitism. "We are witnessing more and more attacks on people who are not Jews, but who are vic- tims of anti-Semitism. "We've had people who are not Jews being physically and verbally assaulted. What we are learning is that for some people, anti-Semitism is a pre- text to express a hatred for the val- ues of anti-racism, tolerance, equality and democracy," Rubinfeld said. "All these values are being under- mined by people who hate these values, and fascists, and should be a matter of concern for all lovers of democracy and oppo- nents of racism. Grech: troubled by 2002 charges, back in the press In 2002, Stefan Grech – then an activist for the pro-EU acces- sion movement 'Iva' – pleaded guilty to the possession and distribution of child pornogra- phy after he was charged with hoarding pornographic mate- rial. The case was then heard behind closed doors. He was given a six-month jail term, suspended for a year for the possession and distribution of child porn but acquitted of taking pictures and hoarding pornographic material. Psy- chiatrist David Cassar testified that Grech had been under psychiatric care long before the court case began. Magis- trate Antonio Mizzi ruled that had it not been for this fact he would have applied the maxi- mum jail term, but recom- mended that Grech should not lose his job since the treatment and his job were necessary for his future development. News of his attack on an EC head of unit on 16 July was fea- tured in the European press, namely in The Daily Mail of England, Belgium's Le Soir, the French Le Monde, The Jerusa- lem Post and Haaretz of Israel. Joel Rubinfeld, president of the Belgian league against anti- Semmitism New IVF law to make embryo freezing lawful The new Act will open the availability of IVF to gay female couples and to single mothers Joel Rubinfeld