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In-Vitro Fertilization Explained
The process of In-vitro fertilization (I.V.F.) involves the process of collecting a mature
egg from a woman and then introducing the egg with semen from the male partner. This
introduction is a duplication of natural conception, except that it takes place in a
controlled, scientific environment. If conception (fertilization) between the egg and
sperm occurs, the newly formed human embryo(s) is transferred into the mother's uterus
for hopeful implantation and pregnancy.
The chances of a single transplanted embryo surviving the entire IVP process are very
small. Consequently, physicians routinely give the donor woman fertility drugs to help
her produce several eggs during ovulation. Doctors fertilize these multiple eggs with
sperm and then transfer them to the receiving woman’s uterus. Despite using multiple
eggs, the average probability of pregnancy per in vitro cycle is only about 10-15 percent.
Source: U.S. Congress, Committee on Small Business. Consumer Protection Issues Involved in In Vitro Fertilization Clinics. Washington, D.C.
U.S. Government Printing Office, 1988, pp. 26-27.
As Brian Clowes, Ph.D., writes, “Pro-life activists object to IVF mainly because it
requires the intentional killing of many human embryos. For example, only 4% of 14,585
human embryos survived to birth, according to a 1984 European study. A 1987 study in
the United States’ largest IVF center in Norfolk, Virginia concluded that only 5% of
4,500 embryos survived to birth.
“Embryos that appear to be defective in any way are simply discarded as biological
waste. If a woman becomes pregnant with multiple embryos, an abortionist often
commits ‘pregnancy reduction,’ a fancy name for selective abortion. The unwanted
children are killed with a shot of potassium chloride to the heart, and they are simply
reabsorbed by the mother’s body”
Source: Brian Clowes, PhD., The Facts of Life, Human Life International, 1997, p.224.
Another problem with IVF is that many of the pre-born lives created by the process are
intentionally exploited and destroyed for research purposes. In other words, human
beings are created by IVF for the sole purpose of killing them through experimentation.
Because every human life from the moment of fertilization on - no matter how small,
weak, or dependent – possesses intrinsic dignity by virtue of his or her humanity, that life
should never be intentionally harmed or destroyed for the supposed benefit of another.
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Georgia Right to Life
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