Storing leftover embryos stir scientific, religious dilemma
Leanne Larmondin/Religion News Service
Issue date: 6/14/09 Section: Divine Intervention
Abortion-rights groups generally object to the term ''adoption'' since they believe that a fertilized egg is not a human being. And the Catholic Church - while both pro-adoption and anti-abortion - says IVF violates the principle that all life must be considered fully human from the moment of conception.
The Rev. Tad Pacholczyk, director of education at the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia, said Christian ethicists have been predicting disaster for years as they watched the growth of the ``multibillion-dollar'' fertility industry. He describes the 500,000 stored embryos - the equivalent of the population of Tucson, Ariz., - as ``caught in a frozen orphanage.''
Earll, for one, was skeptical about Loring's proposed embryo bank because she believes that embryos ought to remain the responsibility of the families who created them.
''Parents need to be engaged in deciding about the welfare of their children,'' she said, ''whether they're born or pre-born.''
Pacholczyk agreed that maintaining the frozen embryos is the ''minimal duty'' for a biological parent. He recommended keeping the excess embryos on ice until they were no longer viable, followed by a ''decent burial.'' Yet ultimately, he said, ''there isn't any simple solution.''
The Rev. Tad Pacholczyk, director of education at the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia, said Christian ethicists have been predicting disaster for years as they watched the growth of the ``multibillion-dollar'' fertility industry. He describes the 500,000 stored embryos - the equivalent of the population of Tucson, Ariz., - as ``caught in a frozen orphanage.''
Earll, for one, was skeptical about Loring's proposed embryo bank because she believes that embryos ought to remain the responsibility of the families who created them.
''Parents need to be engaged in deciding about the welfare of their children,'' she said, ''whether they're born or pre-born.''
Pacholczyk agreed that maintaining the frozen embryos is the ''minimal duty'' for a biological parent. He recommended keeping the excess embryos on ice until they were no longer viable, followed by a ''decent burial.'' Yet ultimately, he said, ''there isn't any simple solution.''
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