It is also forcing SBC churches to confront what they have said for years about being pro-life congregations.
If Christians claim to be pro-life they should support life regardless of how it begins, Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Seminary, said on Washington Watch Monday.
“This is an absolute test as to whether we've been honest all these years when we've said that we believe that life begins at conception, which means fertilization. If we believe that, then we believe that in every single case, for every single embryo, under every condition,” Mohler told show host Tony Perkins.
The SBC resolution, passed at last week’s annual meeting in Indianapolis, neither praises nor fully condemns IVF. It notes that IVF “most often participates in the destruction of embryonic human life” through its practice of creating more embryos than are necessary for the person or people seeking to bring a child into the world.
The resolution expresses concern that IVF encourages families beyond the God-ordained husband-and-wife model.
“Not all technological means of assisting human reproduction are equally God-honoring or morally justified,” it states.
The resolution calls on Southern Baptists in need to use reproductive technology that affirms “the unconditional value and right to life of every human being, including those in an embryonic stage.”
It also encourages adoption of the many surplus embryos that are created in each individual case of IVF.
Democrats predictably pile on
The issue of IVF has become a welcomed topic for Democrats who view it as a winning issue, like abortion, as the November election nears.
Last week, Senate Republicans were able to defeat a Democrat-led bill that would have written broad protections for IVF into law. The measure failed 48-47 with only two Republicans – Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine – voting against it.
President Joe Biden was quick to seize the opportunity and trash Donald Trump, his Election Day opponent.
“Donald Trump’s MAGA Republican allies voted against protecting access to fertility treatments for women who are desperately trying to get pregnant. This is outrageous and unacceptable,” said Biden, failing to note that IVF in many cases is not about “women” trying to get pregnant.
Republicans sought to advance a narrower bill that would have cut off Medicaid funding if states banned IVF.
Sen. Katie Britt (R-Alabama) authored a statement accusing Democrats of using IVF for political purposes of “false fearmongering to mislead and confuse the American people.”
All 49 Senate Republicans signed the statement.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer could revive the failed Democrat bill, David Closson, the Family Research Council’s director for the Center for Biblical Worldview, told Perkins.
“The Democrats’ bill, which is actually a series of four bills that have been put together and is known as the Right to IVF Act, failed to clear the 60-vote threshold, so right now we’re kind of at a standstill,” Closson said.
In February the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that embryos are “children” under the state’s Wrongful Death of a Minor Act. That ruling now allows parents to sue IVF service providers if their child, at the embryonic stage, is damaged or destroyed.
Alabama lawmakers reacted quickly to public backlash and in March Republican Gov. Kay Ivey signed a bill to protect IVF services in the state.
“There’s kind of a panic right now because of the Alabama court decision. People started running and saying there’s an effort to outlaw IVF in the country, which is simply not true. No state has attempted or done that,” Closson said. “The court decision simply said that the product of IVF … these are children. We know that to be the case.”
IVF is gaining ground in the public consciousness but, right now, too many are just learning about it, and there’s a lot left to understand.
“The Christian church has always said a married couple’s desire for a child is good, unquestionably good, and that child is good … but that doesn’t bless every sexual act that brings a child into being. That doesn’t bless every medical technology, and certainly when it comes to IVF,” Mohler said.
Christians need more time to think through an extreme moral crisis with “well north of a million” human embryos that will be used for something other than placement with a man and woman in a loving home.
Not just a few extra embryos
Mohler estimates that each IVF case creates between eight and 16 embryos and that many of them are being “rated” as more desired than the other embryos.
“Some of them are right now frozen. Some will be subjected to medical experimentation, and all of them eventually will be destroyed,” Mohler said.
Mohler said he counsels Christian couples against use of IVF, but if they believe that’s the route that’s best for them, he encourages them to use it only “in ways that fully respect the dignity and sanctity of life...and that means for every embryo.”
