The morality of in vitro fertilization (IVF)

1. The morality of in vitro fertilization (IVF) Saint Paul Ministries www.saintpaulministries.net What does the Church say?

2. At the present time the reproductive technology industry in the United States is a huge growth industry with little governmental or professional regulations. • Not too long a go a woman from California gave birth to 8 babies at once. • Women are given fertility drugs which can result in conceiving four, five or in the previous case eight babies. • Still other women taking the same fertility drugs produce as many as 30 eggs or more. • Infertility, the inability to have children, can be found on many occasions in Biblical passages. • Infertility is not a new problem it is however a problem being overtaken by a newly formed “reproductive technology” industry. • It is legitimate and admirable to find ways to overcome infertility. • Children are a wonderful gift of marriage.

3. The eggs are removed and fertilized “in vitro,” in glass dishes, in this case petri dishes. • Often times these fertilized eggs are referred to as “test tube” babies. • This term acknowledges the fact that once fertilized a human baby exists. • In 1883 through the science of Human Embryology, the moment of conception, has been identified as the beginning of life. • For the sake of argument let’s say that 15 of the 30 eggs begin to live. • The 15 continue to live for up to seven days in the petri dish. At the end of this time only the most vigorous babies survive. • Let’s say there are only 6 survivors. • There in lies the problem the other 9 babies died and what became of them? Were they given the dignity of a Christian burial? • We have 6 babies that might make it to birth but 2 of the six might not. • Does the doctor attempt to implant all 6 or only the 4 he believes will survive.

4. For centuries the church has taught that all life must be respected from the moment of conception to a natural death. • The moralist would say that all six must be implanted and the mother must be prepared to give birth to all six even if some of the babies are found to suffer a defect. • Later on down the road of pregnancy it becomes clear that the life of the mother is threatened because of the • number of babies she is carrying. • The medical professional then suggest “fetal reduction, which is a process of identifying the weakest of the babies and injecting potassium chloride into the babies heart while still in utero. • The baby then dies and is miscarried. • It become clear that in vitro fertilization sets up a pattern of death and destruction of unwanted or unmanageable situations.

5. Turning to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the official teaching of the church, paragraph 1759 states, • "An evil action cannot be justified by reference to a good intention" (cf. St. Thomas Aquinas, Dec. praec. 6). The end does not justify the means. • The death of the 15 fertilized eggs in the petri dish took human life. • The death of 9 more before reaching the point of implantation again took • more human life. • The termination of other viable babies, by lethal injection again took human life. • Now it becomes clear why the Church is opposed to in vitro fertilization. • Another issue of concern is that sometimes not all the eggs are implanted but are used for research or simply destroyed. Again the taking of human life. • In this situation all the decisions about life and death are made by man and God is left out of the process.

6. Cloning is also another issue on the horizon. • Children should arise from an act of love between husband and wife in cooperation with God’s intent. • A number of morally acceptable methods of overcoming infertility exist such as surgery, fertility drugs, rhythms, lower tubal ovum transfer and others. • The parents of a child are not simply a factory wherein • raw materials enter by one door and a finished product exits by another. • Yes the parents do supply the raw materials but it is God that assembles all the parts.

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