In a prior column, I awarded very preliminary grades to the Trump administration on several early initiatives. On abortion and life issues, I gave a grade of “Incomplete,” noting positive statements and symbolic actions, but a failure to address significant issues related to abortion. I expressed optimism that a high grade is possible, but only if certain policies were enacted. These must include, for example, defunding Planned Parenthood and similar institutions that perpetuate abortion. Unfortunately, on Feb. 18, President Trump signed an executive order, the effect of which would dramatically increase the destruction of unborn human beings. The order, “Expanding Access to In Vitro Fertilization,” additionally contributes to the commodification of children, the denigration of marriage and the proliferation of surrogacy.
The ostensible purpose of the executive order is to encourage and facilitate the birth of children. Of course, this is a good end. The birth rate in the U.S. of 1.6 children per woman is significantly below replacement rate, which augurs very serious economic and social crises in the future. We need more children, and it is fitting and proper for the government to institute policies and programs that encourage the proliferation of children by appropriate methods and measures. But good ends do not justify every means. The moral and social costs of IVF far outweigh the speculative benefit of such programs. Moreover, Catholic moral theology expressly forbids IVF as contrary to the conjugal act and the dignity of the human person.
The cross of infertility
No discussion of IVF should ignore the tragedy of infertility. The approximately 12% of couples in the U.S. who desire, but are not able, to conceive is a moral and policy challenge that affects everyone. We must do more than pay lip service to the cross these couples bear. Infertile couples need empathetic accompaniment, expressed through programs and ministries that offer succor and support. We should also encourage and facilitate the development of technologies and procedures that address infertility, but within the scope of the Catholic understanding of marriage, sexuality and the dignity of the human person. Methods that assist natural reproductive biology should be encouraged and funded. Methods that bypass the same should not.
In vitro fertilization is the latter. As a threshold matter, IVF separates procreation from the conjugal act. By removing the procreation of children from the gesture of mutual self-gift, IVF contradicts the two-fold unitive/procreative nature and purpose of sexual intercourse within a valid marriage. The result is that children are not begotten through intimate expressions of love, but rather manufactured through the raw power of morally unmoored technology. Children become manufactured commodities rather than gifts of sexual intimacy. Of course, involuntarily infertile couples are not able to achieve the procreative end of intercourse — that’s why they look for assistance. But IVF does nothing to assist couples to overcome infertility. It replaces the conjugal act with a clinical one.
The destruction of embryonic human life
In addition to separating procreation from the conjugal act, IVF results in far more human beings being destroyed than born. For each live birth of an IVF child, several embryos are frozen, eventually to be destroyed. Typically, 10 to 15 eggs are procured for each attempt at IVF, of which about eight to 10 are successfully fertilized. But even after fertilization, successful implantation on the uterine wall is less than 50%. So three to four embryos will be injected into the uterus with the expectation that maybe one will attach and grow to a full-term baby. Most — and often all — spontaneously abort.
The embryos not injected into the uterus will usually be frozen, sometimes for an indeterminate time and sometimes for a fixed time before being destroyed. While accurate numbers are elusive, it is generally believed that approximately 1 million frozen human embryos are retained in fertility clinics, with many scheduled for eventual destruction.
It is likely that, in a typical year, more unborn children are killed through IVF castoffs than through abortion. This is not a pro-life result.
Better uses for taxpayer funds
In his executive order, President Trump indicated that he wants to “aggressively reduce out-of-pocket and health plan costs” for IVF treatment. Of course, that can only mean that the cost of these procedures — anywhere from $12,000 to $25,000 dollars each — will be passed along to U.S. taxpayers. Put another way, President Trump is advocating massive taxpayer-funded abortion. Additionally, IVF is a necessary procedure for the dehumanizing procedure of surrogacy — the practice renting human wombs and purchasing designer children. This dual evil of using people as things and commodifying children will be facilitated by subsidizing the cost of IVF. Surrogacy should be banned, not bankrolled.
Rather than diverting public funds for the inhumane and immoral practice of IVF, federal funds could be put to actual pro-life and pro-family policies. This might include subsidies for adoption, as well as regulations that remove obstacles to private adoption. Federal funds could also be directed to research of technologies and procedures that address the clinical problem of infertility rather than manufacturing disposable children. In some cases, infertility is nothing more than a result of couples waiting to have children until they feel that they can afford them. Aggressive pro-family policies related to subsidized prenatal, perinatal and neonatal care would help address this issue, lessening the felt need for IVF.
I remain hopeful that the Trump administration will be truly pro-life — from natural conception and birth through natural death. Fortunately, the IVF executive order doesn’t do much more than request a study for how IVF could be facilitated and financed. So there’s time for people to speak out against this inhumane policy and in support of policies that are truly pro-life and pro-family. Until then, the administration’s grade will remain incomplete, but trending toward failure.
