Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Limiting IVF treatment to married and heterosexual couples is “blatantly discriminatory” on the basis of sexual orientation and is “inherently homophobic in nature”, according to the Malta Gay Rights Movement.
It is truly shameful that LGBT people will be forced to access reproductive health services in other countries
The government last week published a draft Bill to regulate IVF treatment for consultation.
If passed, the law will regulate a hitherto-uncontrolled sector and make costly IVF treatment – now only available at private clinics – free at Mater Dei Hospital.
Justice Minister Chris Said said this was due to ethical concerns and not to shut out single-parent or gay-couple families.
But the MGRM disagrees, arguing that by excluding same-sex couples and single people from the definition of prospective parents, the draft goes against basic human rights principles such as the right to form a family.
“Enacting legislation that would deny medical treatment on the basis of sexual orientation would constitute a worrying precedent that has far-reaching implications and engenders serious doubts in the minds of lesbian and gay citizens on this government’s commitment to equality,” the movement said.
It added that the criminalisation of sperm and egg donation had nothing to do with the protection of the embryo and was based on a restrictive model of the family that no longer applied in today’s world.
MGRM coordinator Gabi Calleja said: “It is truly shameful that LGBT people will be forced to access reproductive health services in other countries at their own expense while subsidising the health services available to their heterosexual counterparts with their tax contributions, once again reinforcing the notion of second-class citizenship.”
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