Assignment:
Thesis: While the Catholic Church is completely against the practice of In Vitro Fertilization, bringing new children into the world is ultimately a good thing, regardless of some of the problems that the Church has with it.
I. In Vitro Fertilization is a medical procedure that can impregnate a woman without sexual intercourse.
A. In Vitro Fertilization uses sperm from a male and eggs from a female in the process. The the egg is fertilized by the sperm outside of the body.
B. Sexual intercourse is not necessary for IVF because the woman is implanted with the embryo (combination of sperm and egg), whereas the natural method uses sexual intercourse to deposit sperm in the female's vagina, giving the female body a chance to fertilize the egg and create an embryo.
C. In Vitro Fertilization is most often used for those who cannot conceive naturally: men and women who have fertility issues/defects that inhibit them from conceiving a child.
II. One perspective of the issue is that the Catholic Church unanimously opposes the medical procedure of IVF because of various reasons.
A. Church doctrine teaches that sexual intercourse between a heterosexual married couple is done to bring the two together intimately, as well as to create children (note, the Catholic Church is against recreational sex; sex should be for procreative purposes only).
B. Embryos (in Catholicism) are living beings: IVF practices have few restrictions in the preservation of embryos. IVF preparation often creates many embryos and only implants a few at a time, so that if a couple's pregnancy does not follow through until birth or the couple wants to have children after the first one, then they will have backup embryos.
C. Once a couple either has the number of children they want, the unused embryos can be donated for research, or destroyed. Both of these choices are heavily opposed by the Church, as doing either method typically ends in the death of an embryo (in extension, this is the death of a human).
III. Regardless of the judgement the Catholic Church passes, IVF is a life-bringing process that should not be condemned.
A. IVF helps to bring joy and happiness to parents in a safe, legal manner.
B. While people of all faiths or backgrounds may think drugs and alcohol abuse are evil, the Catholic Church is the only religious organization that openly criticizes IVF entirely.
C. Other religions openly support IVF as a procreative and beneficial process that improves the lives of parents. Catholicism decrees that, while the children born from the process are not "evil" (as in the children are not unwanted creations), parents should avoid IVF because it takes away from sexual intercourse.
IV. Arguments against the Church's Stance
A. The Church believes that conception without sex does not leave the fate of a child with God; instead, a child's life from conception is controlled by science and doctors. However, I believe that God acts through everything (as does the Christian faith) and as a result, if He did not want IVF to be a medical procedure, He would not make it happen.
B. Sex, the Church argues, brings two people together, whereas IVF does not. Yet if every person is created and has God-given flaws, infertility can be considered such a flaw. So, if God made it that these individuals cannot have sex in a procreative and unifying manner, IVF answers the prayers of those who want children yet cannot conceive naturally.
C. Catholics argue that IVF is not necessarily a loving act such as sex. Although this may be true in an immediate physical aspect ( IVF does not simulate the hormonal and physical feelings that sex does), one can argue that going through a much more difficult and painful process such as IVF to achieve the same result is an equal act of love.
D. As the old saying goes, "God works in mysterious ways," it is impossible to know the ultimate intentions of a deity. Despite the fact that the Catholic Church represents the will of the Lord, the people of the Church are not perfect. They are unable to completely know the Lord's will (something they admit to themselves), so it stands to be seen whether IVF is as condemnable as they say.
E. Despite the inherent risks that IVF has for embryos that do not survive the procedure, I believe that giving the ability for people to have babies when they cannot otherwise is an incredible act of love that many of the clergy (who have willingly given up the right to have babies) may not fully understand. The desire for children, as it has been shown, can bring a person to conflict with their own faith and beliefs, yet people go ahead and do it in hopes of creating new joy in the world through children.
V. Solution
A. Those who do IVF should not be discriminated against, nor should their children be considered "unwanted" babies. The Church should support the children produced by IVF because their doctrine is completely about loving all peoples, regardless of any social stigma.
B. IVF should be more heavily regulated so that people can restricted from the act. More specifically, the elderly and those who cannot support children should have strict criteria placed around them so that they cannot create children. This is because the elderly will not be able to help children develop into adulthood (as they would have health issues/death to prevent them), and those who cannot support children (such as the financially poor or those with criminal records) may bring more burden into their lives.
