A parliamentary committee debate on the new IVF law became a heated exchange between the government and the opposition on Monday when the issue of pre-implantation genetic testing of embryos came up. The shadow minister for health, Stephen Spiteri, initially verbally proposed an amendment providing that prospective parents in consultation with medical experts, would be able to choose whether to have pre-implantation testing of embryos or polar body diagnosis for rare medical conditions listed in the law. Health Minister Chris Fearne said the government agreed, since that was already provided in the protocol attached to the law. But when the text of the amendment was formally presented, Fearne said the government totally disagreed, viewing the wording as an attempt to take Malta back years. The opposition, he said, needed to declare whether it actually agreed with pre-implantation genetic testing or not, because the wording of the amendment would prohibit it. The wording of the amendment would disallow testing of the embryos if there were alternatives. The amendment also said there must be no risks to the embryo or mother, when everything, even taking an aspirin, involved...