aditus & MGRM Joint Submission on the ‘Embryo Protection Act’

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On 30 July 2015 the Parliamentary Secretariat for Health issued a Press Release (PR 151745) inviting feedback on Malta’s IVF legal framework. We understand that the aim of this request is to review the current regime and bring it in line with other relevant legal norms as well as ECtHR jurisprudence.

aditus foundation and MGRM welcome this initiative and are happy to share their views in this document. We look forward to discussing this feedback with the Secretariat and with the Inter- Ministerial IVF Review Working Committee.

Our Joint Submission to the Ministry focuses on three main points, largely echoing our initial reactions to the Act:

  1. the ‘Embryo Protection Act’ is an unashamedly homophobic law, also in violation of the Malta Constitution, as it denies access to medical services purely on the basis of sexual orientation;
  2. the law violates human dignity by introducing unreasonable and unwarranted intrusions into physical integrity, throughout the criminalization of egg or sperm donation;
  3. the absolute ban of surrogacy effectively blocks a potentially legitimate pathway to parenthood for several couples.

You can read the full submission here (.pdf).

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