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| Reproduction |
IVF 2025
Who Has the Right to Control Reproduction?
A New Order Stimulates Ethical Discussions
The expensive IVF (in vitro fertilization) procedure made news as the president issued an order that could increase the availability and lower the cost. Some have expressed concern over the declining birthrates in the US. As lawmakers and courts make decisions about human reproduction, the question remains: Who controls women’s bodies?
https://www.axios.com/2025/02/19/trump-ivf-order-birth-rate-costs
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Not all of the politicians are on board with IVF.
Why would anyone oppose the procedure that gives hope to so many?
It is well-known that substantial numbers of evangelical Christians supported the president in his campaign during the last election (Pew 2024) and vote for Republican party politicians but, in some Conservative Christian worldviews, human life begins when a human egg is fertilized. Currently, the IVF procedure creates more fertilized eggs than are used. Those eggs may be discarded, which means killing people—a violation of the Ten Commandments and the prolife stance common to American evangelical Christians.
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/09/09/white-protestants-and-catholics-support-trump-but-voters-in-other-us-religious-groups-prefer-harris/
https://www.christianitytoday.com/2024/01/ivf-pro-life-ethics-christian-fertility-treatments-embryos/
https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2024/the-alabama-supreme-courts-ruling-on-frozen-embryos
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Roman Catholics, the world’s largest group of Christians, also officially oppose IVF on several grounds.
The Catholic Church opposes in vitro fertilization (IVF) based on the following theological and ethical arguments: [1]
1. Respect for Human Life: The Church teaches that human life begins at conception. IVF involves creating multiple embryos in a laboratory, some of which may be discarded or frozen. This is considered a violation of the dignity and sanctity of human life. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
2. Unitive and Procreative Meaning of Marriage: The Church views marriage as a union between a man and a woman that is ordered towards procreation. IVF separates the unitive and procreative aspects of marriage by artificially conceiving a child outside of the marital act. [2, 6, 7, 8, 9]
3. Natural Law: The Church upholds the principle of natural law, which dictates that human actions should conform to the inherent order of creation. IVF is seen as an unnatural intervention into the reproductive process. [10, 11, 12, 13]
4. Ethical Concerns about Embryo Manipulation: The Church raises ethical concerns about the potential for manipulation and experimentation with embryos created through IVF. [14]
5. Alternative Options: The Church encourages couples experiencing infertility to explore natural methods of conception and adoption as ethical alternatives to IVF. [15]
[1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15820035/
[2] https://theconversation.com/pope-francis-called-surrogacy-deplorable-but-the-reasons-why-women-and-parents-choose-surrogacy-are-complex-and-defy-simple-labels-220761
[3] https://dphx.org/respect-life/know-the-issues/in-vitro-fertilization/
[4] https://archphila.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IVF-Session-Scientific-Facts-and-Ethical-Concerns-Regarding-IVF_-1.pdf
[5] https://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3717&context=lnq
[6] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3086456/
[7] https://www.hli.org/resources/responding-to-same-sex-attraction-as-catholic-parent/
[8] https://dwc.org/03-11-24-catholic-teaching-on-in-vitro-fertilization-ivf/
[9] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_response_to_assisted_reproductive_technology
[10] https://www.hli.org/resources/love-and-fertility/
[11] https://www3.nd.edu/~afreddos/courses/264/contraception-whynot.htm
[12] https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/family/documents/rc_pc_family_doc_01021997_rio-themes_en.html
[13] https://crystaivf.com/blogs/what-problems-does-the-catholic-church-have-with-ivf/
[14] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-9809.12878
[15] https://ivfturkey.com/can-catholics-undergo-ivf-exploring-the-catholic-churchs-teachings-on-fertility/
[18] https://lutheransforlife.org/article/is-in-vitro-fertilization-ethical/
IVF is one part of the larger topic of who has the right to control a woman’s body and the even larger question, who has the right to control human reproduction?
Geoffrey W. Sutton, PhD is Emeritus Professor of Psychology. He retired from a clinical practice and was credentialed in clinical neuropsychology and psychopharmacology. His website is www.suttong.com
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