IVF and surrogacy are increasingly popular today as these technologies have advanced and become viable. These technologies have become more prevalent as homosexual and infertile couples believe they are entitled to grow a child biologically related to one or both parents. This process is morally complex, but many conservatives believe that these procedures are good.
The most obvious moral concern about IVF is that life begins at conception, and many embryos are destroyed after successful implantation into the uterus of the mother or the rented womb of a surrogate. The pro-life movement has been very important to the majority of conservatives and Republicans, and the overturning of Roe v. Wade is a major victory for conservatives nationwide. This is because a baby in utero is a person who is alive and therefore has the right to life. The clear extension of this is that the baby is alive from the moment it begins existing.
This simple fact brings the morality of IVF into question. IVF requires the creation of many embryos at a time and therefore has sometimes created dozens of people at a time, which are frozen and implanted at the convenience of the people soliciting this service. Embryos are considered living humans at the very first stage of development, so it naturally follows that they should not be destroyed. However, many conservatives, including President Trump, believe that IVF is something that should be permitted. The moral incoherence of this position is astounding, and it is disappointing to see so many conservative leaders speak out in favor of this issue.
As I’ve said, American “conservatism” is really just “time-delayed revolution.”
IVF is not only gravely immoral, but socially revolutionary, separating children from those who bear them.
To openly support it is to ascribe to the core of the Sexual Revolution. https://t.co/pb7nZaW1EY
— Joshua Charles (@JoshuaTCharles) March 22, 2024
Surrogacy also creates many ethical concerns, as people who rent the womb of a woman for a child believe they are entitled to the womb of another woman as they begin this process. This is an extremely concerning logical assumption of surrogacy that many conservatives are overlooking. Married couples who are unable to conceive themselves do not have the right to create embryos that will be destroyed through IVF. They also do not have the right to the womb of another woman who will grow the child for an expensive fee. Homosexuals have absolutely no right or ability to have children because they are in a sterile relationship by nature. Two partners of the same sex are incapable of having a child, and this is not a problem or error as it is in heterosexual infertile couples.
Neither heterosexual nor homosexual couples have the right to create embryos that will be destroyed and pay a woman to grow a child. This process is unnatural, unethical, and morally incoherent with the values of the pro-life cause. Additionally, many horror stories have already taken place within the IVF industry. People who are pro-IVF will be quick to say that this is a great procedure to help couples struggling with infertility to be able to have a child, but they often ignore the glaring examples we already have of the corruption, crime, and wickedness that naturally follows from people feeling entitled to create and buy children from the womb of another person.
Student: "What do you think is a true pro-life or conservative stance on IVF?"@michaeljknowles: "There is no question that the pro-life stance is to oppose the surrogacy industry and IVF. It's a hard teaching." pic.twitter.com/RTkIfrbsys
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) March 13, 2024
Countless stories in the news highlight that people have had the wrong embryos implanted or sperm from the wrong source. These mixups give a couple a stranger’s baby rather than their own and mixing up the sperm or egg creates a child with a biological parent who is a stranger. There are even stories of doctors using their reproductive matter to create embryos instead of the intended biological components. There are stories from several states that describe these errors happening to many couples over the past few decades of this technology. Life is being tampered with, and as a result, many babies have been created “in error” or the wrong embryo was placed in the wrong person, allowing someone to unintentionally carry the child of a stranger when they did not intend for this to happen.
Another concern that IVF presents is ownership of the embryos that are stored. When a couple splits up or a married couple seeks a divorce and there are stored embryos involved, there are many legal challenges these people will face. Many states interpret the personhood of the embryo differently, and therefore the laws in each state differ on what happens in the case of divorce. Often the partner who wants them to be destroyed wins the legal battle. IVF mixups and divorce complications are bad enough, but IVF has also led to horror stories of people who are dangerous believing that they are entitled to a child who they want to abuse.
Chicago veterinarian arrested for child porn distribution; FBI says he planned to molest baby from surrogacy with his husband https://t.co/v91qUx4JXH pic.twitter.com/3szV8tKRGL
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) March 27, 2024
An extremely disturbing story broke in the news this week about a Chicago veterinarian who was arrested for child pornography charges. This man was well known within the Midwest allegedly because of his presence in dog shows and judging dog-related events. When searching his home, the FBI found evidence of child pornography on his phone. This man also claimed in messages that he has drugged and assaulted children such as his nieces and nephews. Chats he sent were exposed where he stated that he planned on assaulting his newborn son who he was having via a surrogate. He allegedly sent a message saying, “I do love the idea of inviting a buddy over when I have my boy … just has to be someone I can trust obviously.”
It is extremely disturbing and horrific to consider the abominable things that this man has allegedly done and planned to do. It also brings up a serious concern for other people who have been able to order a child to be given to them through the IVF and surrogacy process that treats obtaining a child as a right that everyone should have. Conservative commentator Matt Walsh raised the question of how many other pedophiles are trying to buy children. How many children have been born and purchased by monsters like this?
There is no way to know the answer to this question, but it is a very serious concern that is becoming increasingly prevalent due to the IVF industry. People who are deeply disturbed and want to harm children are typically not capable of finding someone to reproduce with themselves. This is a natural barrier to perverts accessing victims. Now, with IVF and surrogacy, the ability to purchase and ‘own’ a child is possible for pretty much anyone. This is a serious safety concern that is often overlooked by supporters of IVF.
Republicans are going all in on IVF, and Democrats are right to highlight their hypocrisy.
On the one hand, pro-life Republicans say they believe babies have the right to life. They’ll even say life starts at conception. They know the pro-life talking points. They talk as if…
— Allie Beth Stuckey (@conservmillen) March 5, 2024
Conservatives need to get on the same page about this issue and stand by their pro-life values. All elected Republicans should oppose IVF because that is a consistent position that affirms that life begins at conception, whether the life is conceived in a woman’s womb naturally or in a lab. A moral assessment of IVF concludes that it is incoherent to be pro-life and pro-IVF, and conservatives should strive to protect the lives of all people and the sanctity of marriage and childbirth as the fundamental building blocks of a functional society. We are seeing some conservatives standing up for this basic moral principle as Alabama recently ruled that embryos created by IVF are legally children. Hopefully, more states and Republicans will come to this morally sound and logically coherent conclusion as well.
Erin Weeks is a Staff Writer at Turley Talks.
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