Social/political foo: IVF

[alpharaposa]

Catholic school teacher fired for using in-vitro fertilization technique to get pregnant.

I've been doing some thinking about IVF. We have this idea of what it's like, but in the debate over embryo stem cell research we found out that there are all these embryos destined for the trash bin sitting around. Where did they come from? From the process of in vitro fertilization. Hundreds of viable embryos as a waste product. For anybody who opposes abortion, this is a catastrophe.

See, they don't just stick one egg and some sperm together to get an embryo. They get as many eggs (using fertility drugs) out of the ovaries as they can, put them with some sperm and let any fertilized eggs develop a little into small embryos. And then they attempt implantation, but that's not always successful on the first try. With the extras, they can keep trying for a while, but eventually they succeed. What happens to the leftover embryos? They get either stored or 'disposed of' in some fashion. If the couple doesn't want them, nobody else will take them. In the effort to create one life, a dozen lives may be created and then literally thrown away. Many people resort to these techniques, creating the hundreds of 'waste' embryos that were the point of contention in the stem cell debate.

That is an amazingly high price to get one baby 'of your own'.

The other points are also very important. In That Hideous Strength, CS Lewis writes of people living on the moon who have 'cold marriages'. They don't have sex with each other- they each lie with copies of the other person instead. They conceive without ever having to touch. Now, if that concept doesn't leave you cold, I don't know what will.

And yet, and yet... that's what IVF is. It's conception without sex. In our society, it's a thing of last resort, but to bioethicists, it's the wave of the future. I don't know how many science fiction settings there are where people who actually have children through regular old sex are weird, but there's plenty.

Once upon a time, I thought IVF innocent- even wonderful. Then I learned what the price is.

Comments

[prester-scott.livejournal.com]

It's a good thing we're not justified by our good works, and that God will repay all evils (that have not been laid at the feet of the Cross by penitents), and that God fights for the right whether or not human beings cooperate with Him. Otherwise, we'd have a real cause for concern.

[altonwings.livejournal.com]

There should always be cause for concern. I think it the height of hubris when essentially all Christians naturally assume they are destined for heaven. The warning Jesus gave is rather terrifying when you think about it, when you honestly realize the implications of 'Many are called, few are chosen'. Throughout history, Christians have been certain and assured of their place in heaven--people who in our eyes now were highly immoral.

I would rather err on the side that I have not done enough, than expect God should recognize my magnificence, that He should revel in my good deeds. I tend to think of it like a football game: you can play by all the rules, and still lose.

[prester-scott.livejournal.com]

Right, but that isn't quite what I was addressing.

You yourself have said that there is no way anyone can do "enough." I agree. We are desperately wicked through and through.

However, the redeemed are those who cling to God by faith and are being made perfect. Perfectionism and fatalism are not appropriate for Christians. Love and trust are. Obedience and virtue not based in love and trust are of no merit.

[altonwings.livejournal.com]

My apologies, I had misunderstood what you were referencing.

I think in this instance, however, no one is interested in doing anything more than merely talking. No one is willing to give up any worldly possessions, no one is willing to walk away from their job to try and start a fund to educate people and stop this from occurring. No one would even consider selling their home and use the money to try and find alternatives or make the process illegal. I honestly wonder if our good thoughts balance out the cosmic scales in a way that pleases God... especially when you measure words against the weight of millions of dead children.

[prester-scott.livejournal.com]

I don't know about "no one," but certainly not many, you're right. I don't mean to diminish our responsibility at all. We are guilty.

However, resources are few, priorities are pressing, and needs run by in an endless parade. It's easy to be cowed by the enormity of it all even if you do care. Even if you care and try to act, that's no guarantee of success in rescuing anyone. Also, talking is not nothing; it encourages and influences others.

Don't you think you're being a little severe? "Lord, if thou art extreme to mark what is done amiss, who may abide it?"

"Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord." Who made you the judge?