Three reasons why no political party should be the ‘party for IVF’

In a recent town-hall meeting in Georgia, former President Donald Trump solidified his commitment to promoting in-vitro fertilization (IVF), calling the Republican party “the party for IVF.”

“We really are the party for IVF,” Trump said. “We want fertilization, and it’s all the way, and the Democrats tried to attack us on it, and we’re out there on IVF even more than them. So we’re totally in favor.” For their part, Democratic lawmakers have already attempted to create a “right” to IVF.

But Trump’s positive endorsement of IVF is unsettling to many. Though the desire for a new life is good — and every life has dignity and value, regardless of the means of conception — IVF is fraught with a number of ethical and moral problems that cannot be overlooked.

To be truly pro-life recognizes that millions of people have been created and then discarded or indefinitely frozen through the IVF process. These human beings were and are just as valuable as those who are born after being created through IVF procedures.

There are three important reasons why no political party should be the “party for IVF.”

 

1. IVF commodifies human life

Science agrees that life starts at the moment of fertilization when the sperm fertilizes the egg, creating an embryo. Within the IVF process, those human beings are treated as commodities almost immediately.

Each IVF cycle typically results in the creation of many embryos. According to research published in Reproductive Biomedicine Online, over 2.5 million IVF cycles are performed every year, but of those, only 500,000 babies are born annually. The embryos (human beings) that are not implanted in the mother’s womb are either frozen and stored, or destroyed.

In deciding which embryos to keep, doctors will often weed out those with undesirable characteristics or perceived flaws, keeping only those designated as the “highest quality.” A classification system is used to “grade” the embryos, as only those embryos deemed worthy make it onto the “next round” — a process that is not only eugenic, but completely strips the preborn human of dignity.

 

2. IVF results in the destruction of human life

While IVF supporters hail the creation of new life, they are discounting the millions of preborn children who are created and then stored or discarded. In fact, IVF destroys embryos at a higher rate than abortion.

“This is the fundamental ethical issue of IVF,” explained Dr. Lauren Rubal, a board-certified OB/GYN and integrative medicine physician with a subspecialty in reproductive endocrinology and infertility, in a recent Live Action video: “the destruction or abandonment of human life.”

“A recent study showed that the number of embryos needed to optimize cumulative live birth rates was nine,” Rubal explained. “This means that up to eight embryos may not survive or will be frozen or destroyed. So effectively, you are choosing the death of nine to get the life of one. Even though you have good intentions — you just want life — you’re also choosing all of the consequences that follow.”

While some pro-life individuals who support IVF claim that there may be a more “ethical” way to use this technology by harvesting one egg and transferring one embryo to the uterus (with a much lower success rate than that of traditional IVF), “advancements in genetic testing offer the potential to screen embryos for chromosomal abnormalities before transfer, further increasing the chances of a successful pregnancy.” In other words, genetic screening may still play a eugenic role in selecting the embryo most likely to “succeed.”

Research shows that between 1991 and 2012, more than 3 million embryos were created through traditional IVF, but only 235,480 were successfully implanted; an astounding 93% of the embryos created through IVF never survived to birth. While some failed to implant, others were donated to research or stored indefinitely — and nearly 1.7 million embryos were simply thrown away.

If a pro-life person is horrified at the idea of humans being aborted and thrown into a medical waste bin, shouldn’t the disposal of these humans created via IVF be disturbing to the conscience as well?

There are also over one million embryos currently frozen in the U.S. — many in a state of limbo, as their parents aren’t sure what to do with them. Some have been in this condition for decades.

3. IVF poses significant health risks to the mother and child

In the Live Action video above, Dr. Rubal explains that women who conceive through IVF have twice the risk of life-threatening complications during their pregnancies, including a 26% increase in the risk of preterm birth, which can lead to long-term complications with the child. Children conceived through IVF have a 40% increase in chance of birth defects and double the chance of stillbirth. Other known risks for children born via IVF include a higher risk of the following: childhood leukemia, low birth weight, higher blood pressure, hormonal imbalances and advanced bone age, cardiovascular issues and cerebral palsy, autism spectrum disorder, and infertility.

Being pro-life means caring for all human lives. Both political parties should stand for protecting all human lives from the moment of conception — including those embryos created via IVF. While a person’s desire to have a biological child is normal and understandable, the IVF process destroys countless innocent lives and causes far too much damage for the ends to justify the means.

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