Newspapers Examine Catholic Documents That Equate IVF, Pre-Implantation Diagnosis With Abortion

Main Category: Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Also Included In: Fertility;  Women's Health / Gynecology;  Abortion
Article Date: 16 Dec 2008 - 4:00 PDT

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Two newspapers on Saturday examined a new Roman Catholic Church document, released Friday, that condemns efforts by infertile couples to adopt or implant frozen embryos, saying that such methods are as immoral as destroying embryos for stem cell research. The document, titled "Dignitas Personae (Human Dignity): On Certain Bioethical Questions," states, "The desire for a child cannot justify the 'production' of offspring, just as the desire not to have a child cannot justify the abandonment or destruction of a child once he or she has been conceived." It adds that diagnosing embryos for diseases or genetic flaws before implantation is "shameful and reprehensible" and that such techniques, like prescribing or using contraception that prevents implantation, lead to "the sin of abortion." The document does not offer a clear solution for what to do with currently frozen embryos, which it says "represent a situation of injustice which in fact cannot be resolved" (Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 12/12).

~ New York Times: There was "little new" information in the document, but some of the information, such as the church's ban on IVF, might "come as a surprise," the Times reports (Goldstein/Povoledo, New York Times, 12/13).

~ Washington Post: The document "triggered intense debate" about "some of the most contentious issues in modern biological research, including stem cells, designer babies, cloning and a host of techniques widely used to prevent pregnancy and to help infertile couples have children," the Post reports. According to the Post, the document reflects the church's "desire to focus attention on ethical questions raised by a new generation of technologies that are becoming increasingly common." Richard Doerflinger of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said the document "makes very clear that the church is very closely watching scientific progress and favors that progress but wants ethics to be part of that" (Boorstein/Stein, Washington Post, 12/13).

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