The new and appropriate decision by the Alabama Supreme Court to classify in vitro fertilized embryos as people raised questions for fertility centers regarding the viability of IVF. Alabama was forced to pass legislation to protect IVF as a result of this issue, President Trump urging the state to “act fast to get an immediate solution.” This act, signed by Republican Gov. If eggs are damaged or destroyed during the process, Bay Ivey grants them legal protection from liability. Despite this policy, there are still doubts surrounding the future of IVF.
Since Alabama claimed that the unintended death of three couples ‘ frozen embryos was eligible for the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act, doctors have been “worried that officials might cap the number of eggs that can be created in each treatment cycle, which frequently involves the fertilization of some eggs, [and that ] lawmakers may also ban the freezing of copy eggs, which would lead to less efficient and more costly treatments,” according to the report. Additionally, there are concerns about potential limitations on fetal analysis.
Eliminating’ Faulty’ Children
What these issues have in common is that this decision forces community to abandon the practice of eugenics that we are, allegedly, unwilling to do so. As was the case in Greek and Roman civilizations much before the word “eugenics” was invented and commonly practiced around the world, embryos may no longer be non-person, commodifiable things community can do with as it pleases.
Preimplantation screening of blastocysts ( early embryos ) is frequently a part of the IVF procedure to assess the success of implantation and check for genetic abnormalities. Those considered “non- worthwhile” are discarded. This environmentalist practice makes it possible to eliminate “defective” children, as those who use preimplantation screenings in the hopes of producing merely perfectly healthy children may be more likely to choose careful reduction as well.
The procedure of selective reduction ( abortion ) begins with the unlucky fetus’ heart stopped from beating by the injection of potassium chloride. More cruel methods are employed when a girl shares the same amniotic sac, such as radiofrequency ablation and depressive cord coagulation, which shut off the umbilical cord supply and deprived the infant of nutrients and oxygen. In old Rome, Seneca said in the first century CE,” Unnatural offspring we destroy, we drown even babies who are weak and abnormal.”
Also, in ancient Greece, contraception was encouraged to limit the number of kids in people, as was murder for babies born with abnormalities. Due to the importance of marriages that would boost the population’s genetic excellence, partners were chosen based on characteristics like physical fitness. If a couple was found to be unfit for each other and unable to produce strong offspring, the government would even intervene and arrange marriages or impose divorces.
The Build- a- Child Mindset
How does the IVF procedure promote this kind of” selective breeding”? Well, besides selective reduction, reproductive technologies such as IVF often include gamete donation. With gamete donation, people can choose from a catalog of donors and pick certain physical and intellectual characteristics. Gamete donors must meet certain requirements, such as certain physical and intellectual characteristics, a certain ethnicity, a certain height,” good genes”, physical attractiveness, and good health to weed out any “undesirable” traits.
The IVF process often involves the eugenic practice of creating designer babies based on intelligence, hair color, eye color, etc., through gamete donation. Dave Rubin compared choosing an egg donor to being “like Tinder” and went through the site looking for a physically healthy donor who” sort of looked like the type of girl they might be with.” This illustrates the build-a-child manufacturing mindset involved in the gamete donor process, which reduces children to mere products.
Further, since unique human beings come into existence upon fertilization, the sex of the persons fashioned through IVF can also be determined before implantation. This enables those going through the IVF procedure to select the sex they want to transfer and, consequently, to select which of their children will be transferred based on their sex. What could be said to demonstrate that you think each of your children is potentially disposable better than to say that one of them is n’t the “right” sex?
When IVF facilities are forced to accept that embryos are individuals and that they can no longer create multiple embryonic individuals through the transfer procedure to experiment and play trial and error with them. They can no longer indefinitely freeze as human icicles or donate to scientific research where they will be destroyed. These humans should not be destroyed for being “weakly and abnormal” or for being “leftovers” after a couple has reached their desired number of children.
While President Trump and society as a whole view IVF as a procedure that” supports ] the creation of strong, thriving, and healthy American families,” the actual procedure exemplifies an alternative reality.
A version of this article was first published at the Society of St. Sebastian.
Katie Breckenridge is the organization’s operations manager and contributing writer for Them Before Us. She is working toward a second master’s degree in bioethics and has a focus on family dynamics, a graduate certificate in trauma-informed practice, and a master’s degree in mental health and wellness. Through her work as a researcher for the Scottish Council on Human Bioethics, she has also had articles published in The Times and The Scotsman ( U.K. ).
