“I think we have obtained all the divergent views of people from all walks of life who have told us their stories,” said Clyde Puli, president of the Social Affairs Committee last week. The Social Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives has ended their consultation process to regulate biotechnology in Malta.

The Committee is currently discussing the report compiled by Mr Puli, who will shortly present a series of recommendations to Parliament. He explained that the report is split into 15 sections and lists a number of issues discussed. One chapter discusses the problems the board has to tackle. “Another section explains biotechnology for those who do not have a scientific background, while a second one is about biotechnology and its ethical issues,” he explained. The report also includes the position of the Church on the subject. “I included it because although Malta is a secular State, the Church is still powerful and its statements affect how some people make their decisions,” he said. Another chapter explained the different views on biotechnology by the EU, UNHCR, the Council of Europe and the Oviedo convention. “We also have to recommend whether to ratify the Oviedo convention or not,” he said.

The document also provides an overview of the different legislation on biotechnology in 13 countries. “We gave an overview of their laws, if they have a bioethics council, what their views are on surrogate motherhood, gamete donation and so on,” Mr Puli explained. Mr Puli said that when there wasn’t consensus on an issue he presented the different opinion of both sides. He emphasised that the document was not a draft but an overview of the situation. He stressed that there are no plans to ban IVF “but it will be regulated”. An important issue that needs to be discussed by committee members is who will be eligible to assisted procreation: a married couple, a heterosexual couple in a stable relationship, single parents? “There is no consensus on this and it will need to be discussed further,” he said. He pointed out that what should be kept in mind is whether there should there be a form of legislation and if so, what kind of legislation. The discussions started in November 2004 and since then, 36 interested parties have been interviewed and 21 meetings held.