Destruction of Embryos
Via Drudge: About 400,000 frozen human embryos are stored by in-vitro fertilization (IVF) clinics in the U.S. alone. When a patient or couple has the child or children they were hoping for, there are often unwanted embryos left behind.
A new study shows, to the surprise of many, that clinics are often quite respectful in their actions. Some have a ceremony when embryos are destroyed--sometimes including a prayer; others insist that parents be involved, or simply that the parents take the embryos (knowing that the parents intend to destroy them). Some store embryos indefinitely until they can be used by an infertile couple. One clinic pursues an approach to IVF which minimizes the number of embryos that are implanted, and thus (I guess) the number that eventually die or have to be stored or destroyed.
Michael Kinsley has been known to say that pro-lifers including Bush are hypocrites in that they say so little about this. It seems pretty obvious that parents, often couples, who pursue IVF are the salt of the earth, and they intend to take very good care of any children they are able to conceive. They may even be Republican voters, so it may not be wise to antagonize them.
It has also been pointed out that "the right to choose" has one consequence when infertile couples are told that heaven and earth will be moved to give them the child they seek, and that child is treated as an especially precious patient as it grows in the womb; it has a different consequence when pregnant women are told they can dispose of the growing life within them as and when they choose.
The article I have linked to points out that the Catholic Church has been quite consistent: warning against IVF, partly because it will inevitably bring about the dilemmas caused by implanting several embryos in the hope that only one or two will grow and survive; and then either storing or destroying unwanted embryos. The article doesn't say how many are destroyed, but I have seen estimates of 100,000 per year or higher.
Kevin Drum, while a staunch pro-choicer, has suggested that there should be a way to treat abortion as more than a surgical procedure affecting only a pregnant women, especially late in pregnancy, while ensuring that it remains readily availabe, especially early in pregnancy.
What do pro-lifers in general think about IVF? Is the destruction of embryos mass murder? Should the law be changed so that everyone who takes part can be charged with murder?
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