Southern Baptists plan to oppose IVF, say procedure poses ‘enormous moral crisis’

The Southern Baptist Convention, which represents America’s largest Protestant denomination, could vote to take a formal stand against in vitro fertilization, or IVF, at its annual meeting this week.

In a World Magazine column, Al Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said IVF procedures pose a “huge moral crisis.” He is not the only religious leader to express concerns about IVF.

However, although most Christians believe that embryos created during in vitro fertilization constitute human life, some disagree on whether this practice should be changed or avoided altogether.

A major concern is the morality of creating dozens of embryos per patient, implanting only a few in the uterus, and then destroying the remains or saving them for future implantation, which often does not happen. .

Dr. Jeff Barrows, an obstetrician and gynecologist who is senior vice president of bioethics and public policy for the Christian Medical and Dental Associations, told CBN News that since life begins at fertilization, there is no difference in value between a human embryo created in an IVF clinic and a human child, adding that both deserve to be treated with a high level of dignity.

“If I were counseling a Christian couple who were considering IVF and felt it was something the Lord wanted them to do, I would say one thing they would ask their doctors would be that all embryos created be implanted” , says Dr. Barrows.

Dr Barrows said freezing embryos creates a number of ethical issues.

“There is about a five percent mortality during the thawing process,” he said. “Plus, we have millions of frozen embryos in storage. Now it’s a whole different matter, and that’s, I think, a tragedy.”

Dr. Barrows recommends creating no more than four embryos.

“We are not able to decide which embryo will survive and which embryo will not survive. Only God can decide that,” Dr Barrows said.

Some, like the Catholic Church, say the practice should be avoided altogether.

“The reason is you can’t justify bad means to a good end, and IVF involves a lot of evil things going on in these clinics,” said former Trump medical adviser, CEO of AllBetter Health and executive director of the association. Alliance of Healthcare Sharing Ministries Katy Talento, ND, told CBN News, adding, “The IVF industry fuels this cultural right that we have to God-like powers over life and death . And this sense of entitlement is precisely what has fueled the abortion industry.

Talento said that although the treatment of embryos generated through IVF is inhumane, “there are millions of human embryos. Every year, these small embryos are discarded or frozen indefinitely in limbo.

She adds that this is only the beginning of the problems associated with this practice.

“When you support in vitro fertilization, you are supporting an industry that is developing a commercial surrogacy market that commodifies and sells the wombs of poor, desperate women, often women of color or women from developing countries who serve as surrogate mothers. There are surrogate farms in developing countries,” Talento said.

Talento also adds that the IVF industry is expanding pornography.

“How do you get sperm? It is usually through masturbation rooms and pornography in these rooms that male donors provide their sperm,” he adds, sperm donors often sell their sperm.

“This generates a eugenic market for sellers of sperm and eggs who are advertised to infertile parents based on their attractiveness or IQ, academic performance, and often white skin. This harms children by intentionally creating motherless children and intentionally creating fatherless children for homosexual couples.” she says.

While the Southern Baptist Convention considers IVF an immoral practice, other religious leaders, such as Ralph Reed, founder and president of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, believe it has value, but that some reforms are needed .

“We don’t really have an objection to in vitro fertilization,” Reed told the Washington Post, “as long as it’s carried out in a way that shows respect for ethical and moral considerations. “I think that “There should be an unregulated practice of randomly fertilizing eggs and then storing and using them in a way that is almost like harvesting embryos,” he said, adding: “As long as are couples who want to have a child, we support this and we do not want a legal ban on this. »

The issue became a hot political topic earlier this year, when the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that embryos were children deserving of legal protection.

The state legislature quickly changed the law to protect IVF. Today on Capitol Hill, there is a bipartisan push to protect IVF, with Democrats going even further by introducing legislation calling for most employer-sponsored insurance to cover it.

“It’s unclear who this applies to and who it doesn’t. Is it for same-sex couples? Is it just for married couples? Do single parents get this benefit? This includes Does commercial surrogacy include transgender couples or parents?” Talento said: “All these questions remain vague and nebulous or unanswered.”

Meanwhile, facing infertility, Amanda and Ryan Visser considered IVF, but rejected it.

“I have an ethical problem with creating lots of embryos that you don’t intend to use,” Amanda said.

Their compassion for the remaining frozen embryos prompted them to adopt three of those that someone else no longer wanted. Two of these embryos were implanted into Amanda’s womb and became the couple’s twins, who are now six months old.

“Even in the freezer, they weren’t dead,” Ryan said. “So I look at that and I realize that there is human life, even on a microscopic level.”

The couple plans to implant their third embryo or put it up for adoption.

Dr. Barrows said the CMDA strongly supports frozen embryo adoption and said the organization works closely with the National Embryo Donation Center, located in Knoxville, Tennessee.

“The people who run this clinic are actually our members, and we fully support couples who make the decision to adopt one of these frozen embryos,” he said.

So, as debate continues over how or whether to regulate IVF, more and more Americans are becoming aware of the practice as well as alternatives.