Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/570058
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 13 SEPTEMBER 2015 Opinion 19 Against the moral blackmail Matthew Vella P rime Minister Joseph Muscat is to embark on a thorny legislative battle that can easily turn into a minefield. Muscat wants to see embryo freezing as a choice for childless mothers and to guarantee they have access to this technology if they wish. The pro-life lobbies have already started beating the drums of war, and make no mistake, the Bishops have ordered a fresh pack of ballpoint pens to remind MPs, yet again, about their conscientious duties. Muscat has his legislative majority to fall back upon, and his comments on Sunday – proclaiming his resolute belief in according people their right to access embryo freezing technology – made his MPs stand up and take note. Simon Busuttil has already suggested that the PN will have to be convinced that the Embryo Protection Act needs amending. He is likely to see the vociferous pro-life momentum against Joseph Muscat as an opportunity to have the Prime Minister on the defensive, and effortlessly shore up moral conservatives who resent Labour's social liberalism. But neither is Busuttil part of the PN' s conservative caste: questions will be raised on his own personal opinion and vote, and if he will give MPs a free vote. Muscat's nine-seat majority does not give him carte blanche on the subject. His ideological honesty on this subject is a breath of fresh air, and he will be the first to remind critics on the PN side that he had supported the Embryo Protection Act – at least in the legislative act – to obtain a political compromise that delivered regulation on IVF. But there are also unanswered questions about unwanted embryos or embryos whose parents are beyond fertility age: can the government assume the authority to put up embryos for adoption? Is it fair that parents are obliged to petition the courts to stop their embryos from being given up for adoption? Are we going to ignore the elephant in the room, that parents must decide ultimately whether unwanted embryos should be discarded or used for research? Undoubtedly this debate is going to take place in a hall full of shrill voices, with IVF critics accusing a tolerant part of Maltese society as accomplices of some heinous act. But Muscat should also give room to critics of freezing, though many of them may be faith-based, to foster an important debating space on this sensitive subject. What should prevail is not his resoluteness, but our society's compassion: giving childless parents a choice they are responsible for, making the NHS a public good that does not discriminate between parents because of our lawmakers' prejudices. Perhaps even because of the prime minister's forthright stance on the subject, embryo freezing brings out the worst in the pro-life lobby. You might have followed the news this week to find 'abortion' being bandied about carelessly – Labour MP Marlene Farrugia also attempted to use the frightening imagery of the dead Aylan Kurdi and the plight of refugees, as a blackmailing crutch for her opposition to freezing. It is perfectly OK to be against embryo freezing. But bringing in refugee deaths as a crutch for one's rhetorical handicap is certainly not on. It is disrespectful to the plight of individual refugees; and it seems to stupidly imply that those who use embryo freezing are unable to be compassionate towards refugees. Beyond this kind of silliness, we must fear debates in which self-serving MPs embark on Facebook scaremongering and start crying out 'abortion' to drown out the well-meaning supporters of embryo freezing, or invoke spurious claims about 'Frankenstein' technologies. It always strikes me as wicked that pro-lifers are keen on technology that extends unwanted life but not that which brings about 'wanted', loved life. But if there is one constant that I have noted ever since IVF became a regular fixture in the news agenda, is this: the silence. Abortion and the hysterics of blastocyst-fetishists are quick to steal the top headlines, but the silence of desperate couples is simply phenomenal. The crisis of ovarian hyper- stimulation, polycystic ovarian syndrome, the desperation from hereditary, incurable diseases being passed on to the next generation, or the horror of an embryo attaching itself to cervical scar tissue… those who have not paid witness to these very personal ordeals are lucky to have enjoyed the beauty of childbirth, untouched by the financial and emotional ordeal of IVF. Women who undergo IVF? Well, you must hear their stories. They find it hard to confide in people because it is also hard to handle someone else's crisis. And that is why pro-lifers tend to be gung-ho about their sanctimonious banging. They are shouting bloody murder at the top of their voices and drowning out the real human stories. Caspian Corleones and human rights The Maltese are price-takers in the world of international relations. Even with Azerbaijan, newfound 'friends' whose state-owned energy company Socar will provide Malta with its natural gas needs for the next decade-and-a-half, there is little table- banging Malta can do about its dictator Ilham Aliyev's dismal human rights record. Earlier this week, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, condemned an ongoing crackdown on civil society and independent voices in Azerbaijan. He reported "undue pressure, harassment and intimidation against journalists, human rights defenders and activists by State authorities". Perhaps the more prolific of these arrests is that of journalist and human rights activist Khadija Ismayilova who on 1 September was sentenced to seven years and six months in prison by the Baku Court on Grave Crimes on charges of embezzlement, tax evasion, illegal entrepreneurship and abuse of office. She was subjected to a smear campaign before her arrest in December 2014. There is no doubt that her prosecution is connected to her work, uncovering the interests of Azerbaijan's kleptocratic leadership. Company subsidiaries of the two Aliyev daughters' interests in national telephony companies were also traced here in Malta. No country chooses its neighbours, and Malta least of all has ever considered human rights as a stumbling block to economic partnerships. But nobody should view Socar, and the important role it will play in our energy security, as just an energy corporation: it is a vehicle for the Aliyevs' riches and in time, the Maltese – in their 'little way' – will be a party to this dictatorship's personal fortunes. On a more reassuring note, readers may have realised their favourite columnist has been absent from the newsprint these past two Sundays. As it happens, Saviour Balzan despatched himself off on a well-deserved vacation but he will be back next Sunday doing what he knows best. @matt_vella Muscat must give room to critics of freezing… What should prevail is not his resoluteness, but our society's compassion: giving childless parents a choice they are responsible for Pro-lifers tend to be gung-ho about their sanctimonious banging. They are shouting bloody murder at the top of their voices and drowning out the real human stories Caspian Corleones: President Ilham Aliyev and his wife Mehriban