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Controversial amendments to the Embryo Protection Act were approved by Parliament on Tuesday evening and now await the President’s formal assent to become law. Party lines were observed as the government MPs voted for the bill and the Opposition voted againParliament approves controversial amendments to embryo protection law
Controversial amendments to the Embryo Protection Act were approved by Parliament on Tuesday evening and now await the President’s formal assent to become law. Party lines were observed as the government MPs voted for the bill and the Opposition voted against. Opposition MPs were granted a free vote but all voted against the Bill. Three government and two Opposition MPs were abroad on government or parliamentary business. The vote was 34 in favour and 27 against. The vote came a few hours after lawyer Tonio Azzopardi in his personal capacity filed a constitutional application arguing, among other things, that the amendments should be declared null because they breached constitutional provisions on the right to life and respect for human life in all its stages. Pro-life groups had staunchly resisted the bill, saying that embryo freezing was being introduced by choice and not in exceptional cases and this was not in the interest of embryos that were not given a chance to be born and whose life was being put in danger. The groups had a meeting with President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca on Sunday and also argued that the new law would breach the Constitution, as freezing of human... Read more