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| − | == Roman Catholic View ==
| + | Explanations coming soon |
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| − | <pre>(List from NOVA’s 18 Ways to Make a Baby)</pre> | + | <ref>List from NOVA’s 18 Ways to Make a Baby</ref> |
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| − | From Cultural of Life’s report on the U.S. Bishop’s position: http://culture-of-life.org//content/view/608/1/
| + | ==== Artificial Insemination – of mother with father’s sperm ==== |
| − | “Life-giving Love in the Age of Technology” The U.S. Bishop on Assisted Reproduction
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| − | By E. Christian Bugger, PhD, Senior Fellow in Ethics
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| − | According to Humanae Vitae, all methods of birth control are prohibited. The theological justification discussed has to do with the intimacy between conjugation and procreation, therefore, any technologies that involve any other forms of procreation than conjugation between a married couple would also be prohibited.
| + | ==== Artificial Insemination – of mother with donor’s sperm ==== |
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| − | “Equally to be condemned, as the magisterium of the Church has affirmed on many occasions, is direct sterilization, whether of the man or of the woman, whether permanent or temporary. (15)
| + | ==== Artificial Insemination – with egg and sperm donors, using surrogate mother ==== |
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| − | “Similarly excluded is any action which either before, at the moment of, or after sexual intercourse, is specifically intended to prevent procreation—whether as an end or as a means. (16)… Consequently, it is a serious error to think that a whole married life of otherwise normal relations can justify sexual intercourse which is deliberately contraceptive and so intrinsically wrong” (Section 14 of Humane vitae, http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html )
| + | ==== In Vitro Fertilization - using egg and sperm of parents ==== |
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| − | Humanae Vitae also encourages scientists to place efforts in researching and educating people on the natural rhythms of the body (God’s design). This would indicate that they place a higher priority on this type of reproductive research than any of the technologies.
| + | ==== IVF – with Intra-Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection ==== |
| − | “It is supremely desirable, and this was also the mind of Pius XII, that medical science should by the study of natural rhythms succeed in determining a sufficiently secure basis for the chaste limitation of offspring. (29)” (Section 24, Humanae Vitae, http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html )
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| − | === In regards to reproductive technology (and can extrapoloate to the list below) === | + | ==== IVF – with frozen embryos ==== |
| − | “In light of this principle, all techniques of heterologous artificial fertilization, as well as those techniques of homologous artificial fertilization which substitute for the conjugal act, are to be excluded. On the other hand, techniques which act as an aid to the conjugal act and its fertility are permitted.” (Instruction Dignitas Personae, Part 2, section 12)
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| − | === Specifics on fertility treatment === | + | ===== Specifically on cryogenic freezing of embryos ===== |
| − | “Certainly, techniques aimed at removing obstacles to natural fertilization, as for example, hormonal treatments for infertility, surgery for endometriosis, unblocking of fallopian tubes or their surgical repair, are licit. All these techniques may be considered authentic treatments because, once the problem causing the infertility has been resolved, the married couple is able to engage in conjugal acts resulting in procreation, without the physician’s action directly interfering in that act itself. None of these treatments replaces the conjugal act, which alone is worthy of truly responsible procreation.” (Instruction Dignitas Personae, Part 2, section 13)
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| − | === Overall Evaluation of Artificial procreation methods from Donum Vitae, Part 4 === | + | ===== Overall Ethical consideration on what to do with frozen embryos ===== |
| − | “The fundamental values connected with the techniques of artificial human procreation are two: the life of the human being called into existence and the special nature of the transmission of human life in marriage. The moral judgment on such methods of artificial procreation must therefore be formulated in reference to these values.” (Donum Vitae, Part 4: Fundamental Criteria for Moral Judgment; http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19870222_respect-for-human-life_en.html )
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| − | “These procedures are contrary to the human dignity proper to the embryo, and at the same time they are contrary to the right of every person to be conceived and to be born within marriage and from marriage.(32) Also, attempts or hypotheses for obtaining a human being without any connection with sexuality through "twin fission", cloning or parthenogenesis are to be considered contrary to the moral law, since they are in opposition to the dignity both of human procreation and of the conjugal union.” (Donum Vitae, Part 5, section 1.6).
| + | ===== Ethical Consideration on what to do with frozen embryos ===== |
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| − | “The connection between in vitro fertilization and the voluntary destruction of human embryos occurs too often. This is significant: through these procedures, with apparently contrary purposes, life and death are subjected to the decision of man, who thus sets himself up as the giver of life and death by decree.” (Donum Vitae, Part 5, Section 2)
| + | ==== IVF – with pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (See below for Germ-line therapy) ==== |
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| − | * '''Artificial Insemination – of mother with father’s sperm'''
| + | ==== IVF – with egg donor ==== |
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| − | * '''Artificial Insemination – of mother with donor’s sperm'''
| + | ==== IVF – with sperm donor ==== |
| − | See Donum Vitae part 5, section 2.A.2 for an outline on the Catholic Church’s perspective on children being born into a marital union, and procreation occurring only between the husband and wife.
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| − | “These reasons lead to a negative moral judgment concerning heterologous artificial fertilization: consequently fertilization of a married woman with the sperm of a donor different from her husband and fertilization with the husband's sperm of an ovum not coming from his wife are morally illicit. Furthermore, the artificial fertilization of a woman who is unmarried or a widow, whoever the donor may be, cannot be morally justified.” (Donumn Vitae, part 5, section 2.A.2)
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| − | * '''Artificial Insemination – with egg and sperm donors, using surrogate mother'''
| + | ==== IVF – with surrogate with egg and sperm from parents ==== |
| − | “Artificial insemination as a substitute for the conjugal act is prohibited by reason of the voluntarily achieved dissociation of the two meanings of the conjugal act. Masturbation, through which the sperm is normally obtained, is another sign of this dissociation: even when it is done for the purpose of procreation, the act remains deprived of its unitive meaning: "It lacks the sexual relationship called for by the moral order, namely the relationship which realizes 'the full sense of mutual self-giving and human procreation in the context of true love' ".(Reference in Donum Vitae: SACRED CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH, Declaration on Certain Questions Concerning Sexual ethics, 9: AAS 68 (1976) 86, which quotes the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 51. Cf. Decree of the Holy Office, 2 August 1929: AAS 21 (1929) 490; POPE PIUS XII, Discourse to those taking part in the 26th Congress of the Italian Society of Urology, 8 October 1953: AAS 45 (1953) 678.)
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| − | (Donum Vitae Part 5, Section 2.B.6)
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| − | * '''In Vitro Fertilization - using egg and sperm of parents'''
| + | ==== IVF – with surrogate and egg donor ==== |
| − | The church’s stance on IVF, but this is only the conclusion after a lengthy argument regarding IVF and the treatment of the embryo:
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| − | “The Church moreover holds that it is ethically unacceptable to dissociate procreation from the integrally personal context of the conjugal act: human procreation is a personal act of a husband and wife, which is not capable of substitution. The blithe acceptance of the enormous number of abortions involved in the process of in vitro fertilization vividly illustrates how the replacement of the conjugal act by a technical procedure – in addition to being in contradiction with the respect that is due to procreation as something that cannot be reduced to mere reproduction – leads to a weakening of the respect owed to every human being. Recognition of such respect is, on the other hand, promoted by the intimacy of husband and wife nourished by married love.” (Instruction Dignitas Personae, Part 2, section 16).
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| − | “Homologous IVF and ET is brought about outside the bodies of the couple through actions of third parties whose competence and technical activity determine the success of the procedure. Such fertilization entrusts the life and identity of the embryo into the power of doctors and biologists and establishes the domination of technology over the origin and destiny of the human person. Such a relationship of domination is in itself contrary to the dignity and equality that must be common to parents and children.” (Donum Vitae Part 5, section 2.B.5).
| + | ==== IVF – with surrogate and sperm donor ==== |
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| − | “Homologous artificial insemination within marriage cannot be admitted except for those cases in which the technical means is not a substitute for the conjugal act but serves to facilitate and to help so that the act attains its natural purpose.” (Donum Vitae, part 5, section 2.B.6)
| + | ==== IVF – with surrogate and her egg and father’s sperm ==== |
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| − | * '''IVF – with Intra-Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection'''
| + | ==== IVF – with surrogate and egg and sperm donor ==== |
| − | The church specifically says that this, too, is not an ethical form of procreation:
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| − | “Just as in general with in vitro fertilization, of which it is a variety, ICSI is intrinsically illicit: it causes a complete separation between procreation and the conjugal act.” (Instruction Dignitas Personae, Part 2, section 17)
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| − | * IVF – with frozen embryos
| + | ==== Cytoplasmic transfer ==== |
| − | Specifically on cryogenic freezing of embryos:
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| − | “Cryopreservation is incompatible with the respect owed to human embryos; it presupposes their production in vitro; it exposes them to the serious risk of death or physical harm, since a high percentage does not survive the process of freezing and thawing; it deprives them at least temporarily of maternal reception and gestation; it places them in a situation in which they are susceptible to further offense and manipulation.” (Instruction Dignitas Personae, Part 2, section 18)
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| − | Overall Ethical consideration on what to do with frozen embryos:
| + | ==== Nuclear Transfer and Cloning (for reproduction) ==== |
| − | “All things considered, it needs to be recognized that the thousands of abandoned embryos represent a situation of injustice which in fact cannot be resolved. Therefore John Paul II made an “appeal to the conscience of the world’s scientific authorities and in particular to doctors, that the production of human embryos be halted, taking into account that there seems to be no morally licit solution regarding the human destiny of the thousands and thousands of ‘frozen’ embryos which are and remain the subjects of essential rights and should therefore be protected by law as human persons”.” (Instruction Dignitas Personae, Part 2, Section 19).
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| − | Ethical Consideration on what to do with frozen embryos (form Donum Vitae):
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| − | “The freezing of embryos, even when carried out in order to preserve the life of an embryo - cryopreservation - constitutes an offence against the respect due to human beings by exposing them to grave risks of death or harm to their physical integrity and depriving them, at least temporarily, of maternal shelter and gestation, thus placing them in a situation in which further offences and manipulation are possible.” (Donum Vitae, Part 5, Section 1.6)
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| − | “Homologous artificial fertilization, in seeking a procreation which is not the fruit of a specific act of conjugal union, objectively effects an analogous separation between the goods and the meanings of marriage. Thus, fertilization is licitly sought when it is the result of a "conjugal act which is per se suitable for the generation of children to which marriage is ordered by its nature and by which the spouses become one flesh".( Code of Canon Law, Can. 1061. According to this Canon, the conjugal act is that by which the marriage is consummated if the couple "have performed (it) between themselves in a human manner".) But from the moral point of view procreation is deprived of its proper perfection when it is not desired as the fruit of the conjugal act, that is to say of the specific act of the spouses' union.” (Donum Vitae, Part 5, Section 2.B.4)
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| − | vii. IVF – with pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (See below for Germ-line therapy)
| + | === Notes === |
| − | viii. IVF – with egg donor
| + | <references /> |
| − | These reasons lead to a negative moral judgment concerning heterologous artificial fertilization: consequently fertilization of a married woman with the sperm of a donor different from her husband and fertilization with the husband's sperm of an ovum not coming from his wife are morally illicit. Furthermore, the artificial fertilization of a woman who is unmarried or a widow, whoever the donor may be, cannot be morally justified. (Donum Vitae, Part 5, section 2.A.2)
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| − | ix. IVF – with sperm donor
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| − | These reasons lead to a negative moral judgment concerning heterologous artificial fertilization: consequently fertilization of a married woman with the sperm of a donor different from her husband and fertilization with the husband's sperm of an ovum not coming from his wife are morally illicit. Furthermore, the artificial fertilization of a woman who is unmarried or a widow, whoever the donor may be, cannot be morally justified. (Donum Vitae, Part 5, section 2.A.2)
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| − | x. IVF – with surrogate with egg and sperm from parents
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| − | All surrogacy is considered morally illicit in Donum Vitae. The paper lists out both surrogacy from the mother and father and when the surrogate donates an ovum.
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| − | “[Surrogacy]for it is contrary to the unity of marriage and to the dignity of the procreation of the human person. Surrogate motherhood represents an objective failure to meet the obligations of maternal love, of conjugal fidelity and of responsible motherhood; it offends the dignity and the right of the child to be conceived, carried in the womb, brought into the world and brought up by his own parents; it sets up, to the detriment of families, a division between the physical, psychological and moral elements which constitute those families.” (Donum Vitae, Part 5, Section 2.A.3)
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| − | xi. IVF – with surrogate and egg donor
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| − | See part I.c.x above
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| − | xii. IVF – with surrogate and sperm donor
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| − | See part I.c.x above
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| − | xiii. IVF – with surrogate and her egg and father’s sperm
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| − | See part I.c.x above
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| − | xiv. IVF – with surrogate and egg and sperm donor
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| − | See part I.c.x above.
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| − | Technically this is under the section of frozen embryos, but discusses surrogacy:
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| − | “The proposal that these embryos could be put at the disposal of infertile couples as a treatment for infertility is not ethically acceptable for the same reasons which make artificial heterologous procreation illicit as well as any form of surrogate motherhood; this practice would also lead to other problems of a medical, psychological and legal nature.” (Instruction Dignitas Personae, Part 2, section 19).
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| − | xv. Cytoplasmic transfer
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| − | xvi. Nuclear Transfer and Cloning (for reproduction)
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| − | “Human cloning is intrinsically illicit in that, by taking the ethical negativity of techniques of artificial fertilization to their extreme, it seeks to give rise to a new human being without a connection to the act of reciprocal self-giving between the spouses and, more radically, without any link to sexuality. This leads to manipulation and abuses gravely injurious to human dignity.” (Instruction Dignitas Personae, Part 3, section 28).
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| − | Theological reasons for rejecting cloning for reproductive purposes:
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| − | “If cloning were to be done for reproduction, this would impose on the resulting individual a predetermined genetic identity, subjecting him – as has been stated – to a form of biological slavery, from which it would be difficult to free himself. The fact that someone would arrogate to himself the right to determine arbitrarily the genetic characteristics of another person represents a grave offense to the dignity of that person as well as to the fundamental equality of all people.” (Instruction Dignitas Personae, Part 3, Section 29).
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