Maltese Paediatric Association appeals on Parliament to ‘safeguard the human rights of every embryo’

The Maltese Paediatric Association yesterday launched an appeal to Members of the House of Representatives to “safeguard the human rights of every embryo in the amendments to the Embryo Protection Act”.

The General Meeting of the Association, on Friday, “noted with satisfaction that the problem of higher order pregnancies, with the associated medical risks to the child, has been practically resolved through the application of the current Embryo Protection Act”.

The Meeting also approved a resolution underlining three fundamental rights of every embryo, namely that:

None of the embryos are denied the right to live or have their right to live suspended or endangered as would occur with embryo freezing.

All embryos should have an equal right to be brought up by their natural parents.

Individuals born through IVF should have the right to know the identity of their biological parents in order to prevent them having children from potentially biological relatives as this would drastically increase the risk of genetic defects in their children, with all the associated human suffering this brings.

The Association said it welcomes “every improvement in the legal framework and practice of IVF that are consistent with the rights of the embryo and the children that are born through it”.