Time to Talk About In Vitro Fertilization

The bigger a democratic governmental bureaucracy gets, the less the citizens know of ongoing legislation their representatives are introducing and passing. A great example of this disconnection is a bill introduced by Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and her pro-abortive colleague Patty Murray (D-WA), along with Representative Susan Wild (D-PA) called Access to Family Building Act (AFBA).

On the surface, the AFBA seems relatively innocuous, for what moral citizen doesn’t want to help build up the family arguably under siege in modern culture? What we have learned about the law-making process is that the title of a bill has little to do with the law’s intent. The Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, turned out to be more expensive than other plans, along with the high deductible of $1000 before insurance even considers paying out. The proposed AFBA follows a similar pattern.

In 2022, when the Supreme Court ruled against Roe vs. Wade and deemed that individual States should rule on the legality of abortion in their areas, the Democratic party and their foot soldiers went to work to enshrine the supposed right of abortion in the constitutions of each state. The Democratic Party functions on the belief that government authority is the sole determiner of the morality of a society. In legalizing immoral practices like abortion, the government, in essence, creates an environment by which religious freedom is quashed under the penalty of the law. Planned Parenthood is a great example whereby taxpayers are paying for abortions regardless of whether they believe the practice is immoral or not. Under the law, they have no choice in the matter.

The proposed passing of the AFBA employs the same strategy. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) is in complete agreement and writes, “The demise of the Constitutional privacy protections of Roe v. Wade, states have been busy restricting or banning access to important reproductive medical services.”

The bill advocates the removal of any State’s right to determine whether the lucrative reproductive business can be outlawed or curtailed, bringing the matter back to federal jurisdiction with the potential of federal legal action if necessary. It also indemnifies all healthcare institutions along with their agents. The kicker to the bill is that any patient requesting IVF or similar procedures cannot be refused, and their insurance carrier is mandated to pay for the procedure.

Now, only 2% of babies are born from Assisted Reproductive Technology; it seems the need for this bill is questionable. No wonder the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and Resolve favors this bill because their revenues will increase far past the 2% to an exponentially high number of patients requesting the treatment. The same will hold with healthcare institutions, which will also profit. Those who will not have a windfall are the ordinary citizens paying insurance premiums because the bill mandates insurance companies to pay for the procedure. The bill humorously states, “A health insurance provider has a statutory right under this Act to cover assisted reproductive technology treatments or procedures.  

The financial aspect of this bill is of minor importance compared to the moral and societal havoc such legislation would bring.  Catholics need to be aware of what is happening in the shadows of Washington, D.C., along with knowing the relevant facts about the immorality of In vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures.  

Part Two of this topic will focus on the moral question of IVF in general, and my fellow author Raphael Peters will enlighten our readers on how to calibrate their moral compass about this subject on Thursday.