One man says that it’s not a dilemma at all — or shouldn’t be. And I agree with him. But I think he underestimates the so-called “right to life” movement. His argument is that most of the embryos used for stem cell research would be derived from fertility clinics, which produce more embryos than they need in order to maximize a woman’s potential to become pregnant. These fertility clinics discard large numbers of embryos, with very little political consquence.
In short, if embryos are human beings with full human rights, fertility clinics are death camps—with a side order of cold-blooded eugenics. No one who truly believes in the humanity of embryos could possibly think otherwise.
And, by the way, when it comes to respecting the human dignity of microscopic embryos, nature—or God—is as cavalier as the most godless fertility clinic. The casual creation and destruction of embryos in normal human reproduction is one reason some people, like me, find it hard to make the necessary leap of faith to believe that an embryo and, say, Nelson Mandela, are equal in the eyes of God.
Proponents of stem-cell research like to emphasize that it doesn’t cost the life of a single embryo. The embryos killed to extract their stem cells were doomed already. But this argument gives too much ground, and it misses the point. If embryos are human beings, it’s not OK to kill them for their stem cells just because you were going to kill them, or knowingly let them die, anyway. The better point—the killer point, if you’ll pardon the expression—is that if embryos are human beings, the routine practices of fertility clinics are far worse—both in numbers and in criminal intent—than stem-cell research. And yet no one objects, or objects very loudly. President Bush actually praised the work of fertility clinics in his first speech announcing restrictions on stem cells.
From what I’ve read at anti-choice websites, a lot of these people do think that fertility clinics are death camps with a side of eugenics. And if it were up to them, they’d shut the clinics down. After all, fertility clinics allow women to take their fertility into their own hands — and that just ain’t right.
But the author is right — mainstream anti-choice organizations are notably silent on the issue of IVF and fertility clinics, because speaking out against them would be tremendously unpopular.
The anti-choice strategy with stem cells, “snowflake babies” and fertility clinics is nearly identical to its strategy on abortion: Go for the unfamiliar and the scary-sounding stuff first, and slowly chip away at reproductive rights. Fertility clinics are far too socially accepted and ingrained for the anti-choice nuts to promote shutting them down. But stem cells are new, unfamiliar, and potentially scary — stem cell research can be conflated with human cloning; the word “embryo” can be used interchangably with “little tiny baby” and many people just don’t know better. So it’s an easier battle to fight. And if they win, they can put more effort into going after the bigger things — like fertility treatments. And birth control.
Moral sincerity is not impressive if it depends on willful ignorance and indifference to logic. Not every stem-cell opponent deserves to have his or her debater’s license taken away. There are a few, no doubt, who actually are as horrified by fertility clinics as they are by stem-cell research, and a subset of this subset may even be doing something about it. But these people, if they exist, are not a political force strong enough to stop a juggernaut of medical progress that so many other people are desperate to encourage. The vast majority of people who oppose stem-cell research either haven’t thought it through, or have thought it through and don’t care.
I wish they would think again.
Except that those people who aren’t a strong enough political force to stop a juggernaut of medical progress have already been fairly successful with stem cells. And his contention that these people might not exist is demonstrably false:
The public doesn’t like to admit the fact that IVF does the same thing that abortion does – it kills preborn babies,” said Judie Brown, president of American Life League. “It is no secret that the excess embryos created in fertility clinics are destroyed once the parents achieve the pregnancy or pregnancies they desire. It is never acceptable to destroy innocent human persons.
Even clinics with the highest standards have a cavalier attitude toward embryos. If, for the sake of argument, they were to agree to a Christian couple’s stipulations, how are they treating other people’s offspring? Fertility clinics are all too willing to create far more embryos than can possibly be allowed to live. They will discard ones that seem unfit. They will advocate “pregnancy reductions” when more than two embryos implant in a woman’s uterus. They will freeze “surplus” embryos for years on end, or sell them to researchers who then put them under a microscope and disassemble them for spare parts. It is incongruous for pro-life Christians to go to great lengths to find physicians who don’t perform abortions or refer women to other doctors who will, yet think nothing of what their fertility clinic is doing.
An Illinois judge declares that an early embryo is a human being, allowing a couple to sue a clinic for destroying a fertilized egg.
A U.S. senator suggests that couples seeking fertility treatment should not be allowed to produce more embryos than they wish to implant simultaneously.
Anti-abortion activists picket a fertility clinic in Virginia, proclaiming, “IVF kills babies.”
They’re also good at blaming infertile women for their situation (naturally, through spreading complete misinformation):
Infertility has many causes. Some – but certainly not all – are the result of sin. High on the list are sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs), which are often the result of immorality.
Chlamydia and gonorrhea can lead to the greater complication of pelvic inflammatory disease. PID may cause miscarriages or tubal damage and scarring that complicate efforts to conceive. Women are often unaware of an infection or inflammation until after they miscarry. As many as one million American women each year will be diagnosed with PID, and one-quarter of them will become infertile.
Studies show that STDs are aggravated by certain forms of birth control (oral contraceptives and intrauterine devices) and elective abortion.
Abortion, especially when repeated, is a leading cause of infection and changes in the uterus (scarring) that make later conception and implantation difficult or impossible.
Both abortion and PID cause ectopic (tubal) pregnancies which lead to infertility in many women. The number of ectopic pregnancies has also sky-rocketed in recent years.
It is ironic that one result of the “sexual revolution” is a rise in infertility. Other causes include pollution, alcoholism, drug abuse, marijuana use, and smoking.
The author of the Slate article is right when he points out that the anti-choice forces haven’t started a full-frontal assualt on IVF and fertility clinics — yet. But he’s sorely mistaken if he thinks that this is indicative of the issue not being on their radar screens.