As the U.S. presidential election approaches the November 5 political vote, Catholic voters across the country continue to ponder a number of pro-life issues. That includes Republican candidate Donald J. Trump’s expressed support for in vitro fertilization and his proposed plan to expand its availability. Through federal or private insurance company coverage obligations.
In vitro fertilization (fertilizing eggs outside the body in a laboratory dish) is opposed by the Catholic Church because it frequently involves the destruction of human embryos, among other ethical and moral issues.
OSV News requested a current statement from the Trump campaign on September 12th. The candidate’s media outlets responded with a link to the Sept. 4 press release, “Catholics Support Trump,” garnering support from the former president’s Catholic supporters.
“In my experience, many Catholics usually have only a vague idea of what the Church teaches about IVF, because they usually have not received significant formation on this issue. ” said Father Tad Pacholczyk, Director of Education and Senior Ethicist. National Catholic Bioethics Center.
Republican presidential candidate and former US president Donald Trump makes a statement on abortion policy in this screenshot taken from a video released on April 8, 2024. (OSV News Photo/President Donald J. Trump 2024 Handout via Reuters)
“The typical Catholic is often unable to explain why IVF is wrong,” he told OSV News.
Of the more than 413,000 artificial reproductive technology cycles recorded in 2021, only 112,088 resulted in pregnancy. Of those, only 97,128 were able to give birth safely, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Because multiple embryos are typically created for use in an IVF cycle, the number of human embryos currently created each year by IVF in the United States is in the hundreds of thousands, but the majority are typically infertile. Lost through what the clinic’s website describes as “in vitro fertilization.” Exhaustion. ”
In one example provided by an IVF clinic, 10 mature eggs are collected and 8 human embryos can be obtained through IVF. Only three to four of these embryos have the potential to develop into implantable embryos after cryopreservation. Usually one, and sometimes two, embryos are transferred each time a transfer is attempted. According to CDC data, for women under 35, an average of 45% of embryo transfers result in one live birth, while for women under 40, the average drops to 23%.
“Donum Vitae” (“The Gift of Life”), published in 1987 by the Vatican Congregation for the Faith (now the Vatican Office), equates in vitro fertilization with abortion, which comes from the “abortion mentality” and is “radical.” to the eugenics system.”
“The development of the practice of in vitro fertilization has required the countless fertilizations and destructions of human embryos,” the report said, adding that “throughout these procedures, researchers with apparently conflicting objectives… , life and death are subject to human decisions, and thus humans decide themselves.” He is designated by law as the one who gives life and death. ”
In its 2008 “Dignitas personae” (“Human Dignity”) published by the Congregation for the Faith, the Church acknowledged that couples who cannot conceive do suffer, but that “the desire to have a child is There is no justification for “giving birth” to a child.” descendants. “
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that “techniques involving only husband and wife (allogeneic insemination and fertilization) remain morally unacceptable.” He added, “The act of giving birth to a child is no longer an act of two people sacrificing themselves to each other, but an act of entrusting the life and identity of the fetus to the power of doctors and biologists, establishing control over the fetus.” There is. Technology overturns the origins and destiny of humans. ”
Father Pacholczyk expanded on these official teachings.
“IVF replaces the act of physical union between spouses with the act of manipulation in a laboratory,” he says. “It turns childbirth into production. IVF is actually the flip side of contraception: instead of trying to have sex without a baby, you’re now trying to have a baby without sex. ”
The commodification of offspring is a grave moral concern for the Church, even if the end result is the gift of life.
“By performing in vitro fertilization, we are establishing a subclass of people who originate from Petri dishes and test tubes rather than the intimacy of a single-minded union of spouses, and we are undermining the human dignity of our children. You will be acting contrary to this,” Father Pacholczyk said emphatically. “The problem with IVF is never the child.”
“Human beings are not produced according to manufacturing methods or laboratory procedures, but are born of love through the act of conjugal action, a mutual gift of the spouses to themselves,” he said.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops declined to “speculate on hypothetical policies” that might emerge under a future Trump administration, but USCCB spokeswoman Chieko Noguchi told OSV News: We protect the dignity of life and protect it from the moment of conception. ”
A medical laboratory technician performs vitrification surgery on an embryo during the intracytoplasmic sperm injection process (ICSI) at a laboratory in Paris, September 13, 2019. (OSV News Photo/Christian Hartmann, Reuters)
During his campaign, Trump has publicly expressed support for in vitro fertilization multiple times.
“We want to make it easier for mothers and families to have babies, not harder,” President Trump declared in an April 8 video posted to his Truth Social channel. “This includes supporting the availability of infertility treatments such as in vitro fertilization in every state in the United States.”
On August 29, during a campaign stop in Potterville, Michigan, President Trump said, “Today, in an important statement, I want to say that under the Trump administration, either the government will pay for everything, or insurance companies will pay for everything.” We will announce that we will cover the costs.” Related to in vitro fertilization treatment. Well, because we want more babies. ”
During a September 10 presidential debate with Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump claimed, “I was the leader in in vitro fertilization.”
Although Harris has not stated a policy on IVF, she hinted at access issues during the same debate. “Couples praying and dreaming of starting a family are being denied IVF treatment,” she says. If elected, Harris has also pledged to sign legislation if Congress sends it to the Oval Office to restore federal rights to abortion.
A lack of specific details about President Trump’s IVF policy has left policy observers speculating.
“It’s not clear how this proposal would work,” says Lyman Stone, senior research fellow at the Institute for Family Studies (IFS) and director of the Natalism Initiative. “Many states already have insurance coverage requirements for IVF, so I think what they’re really talking about is taking the state coverage mandate and expanding it nationally. This is a guess.”
Stone also thought there might be “some kind of Medicaid coverage for people who don’t have insurance.”
“We still don’t know what they’re actually talking about,” he concluded.
Whatever the policy details, “there’s not going to be an IVF baby boom,” Stone asserted. “That’s not how IVF works.”
Stone revealed that in vitro fertilization procedures include “a very disproportionate number of women, from first-time mothers to older women.” While that still sounds like an increase in birth rates, “what also happens is that when there are more options for reproductive technology, people tend to delay birth,” Stone explained. “So when I turned 31, I froze my eggs and said, ‘Well, I don’t really need to rush, after all, I have a lot of time.'”
However, that is not necessarily true, given the unique difficulties of giving birth to older mothers.
“These two factors more or less cancel out, so the end result is that there are no extra babies,” Stone said. “That’s why I’m saying this policy won’t work. The impact of the delay offsets other possible impacts.”
“We see this from many real-world examples of implementing these policies in practice,” Stone added. “We know what will happen. The answer is that there will be no significant change in fertility.”
Patrick T. Brown, a researcher at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, crunched the numbers.
“According to the Department of Health and Human Services, the cost of successful IVF is approximately $61,000, and in 2022, more than 90,000 babies were born through IVF (2.5% of births nationwide).” said Mr. Brown. “If you just take those numbers and assume that Trump’s second term is funded by people’s tax dollars, it would be about $55 billion over 10 years.”
Two other factors complicate predictions. Brown said insurance mandates could mean a “significant increase” in premiums, but the increased availability of IVF could also lead to increased demand, adding that “by 550 in 10 years, “That’s a very conservative estimate of $1 billion.”
“There’s a transfer involved here, whether it’s paid for with insurance premiums or with public funds,” Stone said. “Older, less fertile LGBT couples are receiving benefits, which they are more likely to use, and young people who are naturally fertile are paying for them,” he said. emphasized.
Timothy P. Carney, a senior fellow at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, said it also raises many questions about reporting. “At what age and for how long?” Is IVF only available to married couples? Does it include surrogacy (when another woman carries an embryo conceived through IVF and carries the child until it is delivered in place of the intended parents)?
“All of these questions are open, and it’s not easy to draw the line. Is it discrimination if I say, ‘No, we only serve married couples,’ or what about unmarried couples?” ? What about cohabiting couples? ” he asked. “Can you imagine Congress or the Department of Health and Human Services having the wisdom or prudence to make these fine distinctions?”
Although Mr. Carney’s rhetorical questions appear to be answered on their own, difficult deliberations are expected.
“It’s all very unexplored and it’s going to be a very difficult discussion. It’s going to raise all sorts of problems,” Carney concluded. “I don’t think Donald Trump had that in mind at all when he proposed universal IVF coverage.”
Nor is President Trump immediately seeking cooperation from his party.
In mid-June, Senate Republicans blocked the IVF Rights Act, a bill that would have established a nationwide right to IVF and other fertility treatments. On September 17, Republicans voted again to block the bill, saying they support in vitro fertilization but criticizing the Democratic-led bill.
“The mandate part is a difficult issue for many reasons, not the least of which is the impact it will have on insurance costs,” said Sen. John Thune, R-South Dakota. “We are imposing a lot of obligations on insurance companies, as they already are.”
If a potential Trump administration requires in vitro fertilization, questions of conscience also need to be considered, regardless of who pays for it.
“Such a mandate is immoral,” Father Pacholczyk said, echoing the argument heard in 2011 when the Obama administration tried to force Little Sisters of the Poor to include coverage for abortions in its employees’ health insurance plans. It was the same. Therefore, they are complicit in financially subsidizing the IVF procedures of their employees. ”
Father Pacolczyk added that it “constitutes an intrusion into the religious activities and governance of the Church and represents a violation of the conscience of church members ordered by the federal government.”
Ultimately, America’s pro-life voting bloc could be alienated by President Trump’s support for IVF.
“The reality is that many Catholics and others who believe that life begins at conception may have a problem. Demographically, it is also likely that there will be no effect. ” Stone said.
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