Last Tuesday, I read Daniel Payne’s article, “Alabama Supreme Court rules that embryos are children under state law,” (2/20/24.  Catholic News Agency.  Accessed online on 2/27/24 at https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256891/alabama-supreme-court-rules-that-frozen-embryos-are-children-under-state-law).  In the very first line he reported, “The Alabama Supreme Court has ruled that frozen human embryos constitute children under state statute.”

I was overjoyed that a court has finally pronounced the embryos are children.  In their decision, Payne reports, the court even cited passages from the Bible. 

The court was responding to a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the parents of embryos that were accidentally destroyed.  Since the court decided that embryos are children, that lawsuit can move forward.  The court decision made no comments on fertility treatments in general (Daniel Payne, “After Alabama Supreme Court’s Embryo Personhood ruling what comes next,” 2/23/24.  Catholic News Agency.  Accessed online on 2/27/24 at https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256907/after-alabama-supreme-court-s-embryo-personhood-ruling-what-comes-next.)

Since the court decision was announced, the news has reported that some IVF (in vitro fertilization) clinics in Alabama have either closed or temporarily ceased activity while they examine what this court decision means for their work and the embryos in storage.  I find it curious, but not surprising, that the secular news seems to assume IVF is a perfectly acceptable procedure.

I think some people might assume the Catholic Church would be in favor of IVF since the Catholic Church supports parents having children.  The Catholic Church does support treatments that help couples address fertility issues.  The following slide from Part II of my series, Treating Life With Dignity and Love, provides a quote from Humanae Vitae (Pope Paul VI, 7/25/1968), on the church’s position on medical efforts that actually address fertility issues.  The second part of the slide points to the St. Paul VI Institute that provides fertility treatments that are in accord with Catholic teaching.

Why does the Catholic Church disapprove of IVF? (see Donum Vitae by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, February 22, 1987).  Before answering this, I want to be clear that any child born through IVF is a child of God, loved by God, and has the same dignity as a child conceived naturally.  Again, these children are loved by God.

We need to understand that when a female decides to use IVF to become pregnant, the clinic creates not just one embryo but several.  So, because we see the embryo as a child, our Catholic faith is greatly concerned about the extra embryos that are created. 

When the procedure to implement the embryos in the mother’s womb is done, it is not just a single embryo that is implanted.  To increase the chances of successful implementation several embryos are inserted.  This can result in multiple pregnancies at once.  When this happens, abortions may be performed to reduce the number of children in their mother’s womb.  Abortion is never a good thing.

Any remaining embryos are frozen and placed in storage for future use.  They are not treated as children.  The lawsuit concerning the accidental death of some embryos demonstrates why storage of embryos is a moral problem.

Our Catholic faith is also concerned about the unnatural way in which the embryos are created.  An egg is obtained from either the woman who seeks to become a mother or, if she does not have healthy egg cells, from a “donor female.”  Sperm is obtained from either the man who seeks to become a father or a “sperm donor male.”  They are combined in a laboratory clinic.  Then embryos are inserted into the mother’s womb.  It is a laboratory procedure rather than a loving act of sexual intimacy between a married husband and wife.  In fact, there doesn’t even need to be a male involved except to donate the sperm.  In this case, IVF has nothing to do with fertility treatments. 

The following slide from Part I of my series, Treating Life with Dignity and Love shows on the biblical passages that shows that God gives life in the womb.

While the next slide quotes the Catechism as to God as the one who is the author of life.

As I said at the beginning of this article, I was overjoyed to hear that a court had decided that embryos are children.  While I have used this opportunity to write about what our Catholic faith teaches about IVF, my joy lies in the declaration for life.  The following slide from Part II of my series, Treating Life With Dignity and Love, shows what the Catholic Church teaches and what I believe, that life begins at conception.

With this in mind, I find it interesting that the news story I have seen do not argue the Alabama Supreme Court’s decision that embryos are children.  Could it be that they know the court is correct?

What does this mean for life in general?  I believe it has great significance beyond IVF.  Does it not mean that abortion kills a child?  From this, abortion is wrong (see Peter Pinedo, “Here’s what Trump, Biden, and the Catholic Church are saying about IVF,” 2/26/24.  Catholic News Agency.  Accessed online on 2/27/24 at https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256918/here-s-what-trump-biden-and-the-catholic-church-are-saying-about-ivf).

I do not know if this court decision that embryos are children will have any bearing on court decisions or new laws concerning abortion.  The second article I cited by Payne, “After Alabama Supreme Court’s Embro Personhood ruling what comes next,” explains while it is unlikely that this decision will be appealed to the federal courts. 

However, we can pray that those who support abortion hear the Alabama Supreme Court decision declaring embryos are children and come to realize the errors of their past. We also pray that every child, regardless if they were conceived naturally, through IVF, or other means is always loved and cherished by all people as they are loved by God.

Peace,

Fr. Jeff