CV NEWS FEED // A chorus of conservative critics slammed a bill aimed at protecting the in-vitro fertilization (IVF) industry after Sens. Ted Cruz, R-TX, and Katie Britt, R-AL, introduced the proposed legislation on Monday.
“The bill states that IVF is a ‘pro-woman and pro-family solution for those struggling to have children.’ Yet it is neither of those things,” Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) Policy Analyst Natalie Dodson wrote in an op-ed published in The Hill Wednesday.
“The assistive reproductive technology industry routinely promulgates or at least is part of an inadequate assembly line for women’s health,” Dodson continued:
Rather than addressing underlying conditions that cause infertility, most women are immediately referred to IVF clinics where they spend their life’s savings pursuing a pregnancy that will likely not be achieved.
From contraception to infertility to assisted reproductive technology, IVF is the last step in a profit-based industry that fails to address the underlying causes of infertility and reproductive conditions.
“Now, Republican senators are feeding into this deceptively anti-woman scheme by introducing this bill,” she emphasized.
>> CRUZ AND BRITT INTRODUCE PRO-IVF BILL, CLAIM IT IS ‘PRO-FAMILY’ <<
In her op-ed, Dodson pointed out that less than 25% of women under 35 “who undergo a cycle of IVF” will “experience a live birth.”
“As age increases, the percentage of successful live births decreases significantly,” she noted.
Patience Griswold of the pro-family and children’s rights organization Them Before Us made a similar point in a Tuesday Daily Signal piece.
“The tragedy of the fertility industry is that a small minority gets that chance,” Griswold wrote. “Only about 2.3% of IVF embryos result in a live birth; research in the U.K. found that only 7% of embryos created via IVF are implanted.”
“This means that over 90% of the lives created by the fertility industry are discarded as waste, frozen and left indefinitely in storage, or experimented on and destroyed,” Griswold continued:
Not only that, but the genetic screenings offered by the fertility industry allow couples to choose not to implant an embryo based on possible disability, or having the “wrong” sex, hair color, or eye color.
Griswold also criticized Cruz’s and Britt’s assertion that their bill protecting the IVF industry served to “protect life.”
“This is a popular rhetorical stance from the Republican Party as state and federal lawmakers scramble to prop up the fertility industry after the Alabama Supreme Court found a Mobile facility to be at fault for the wrongful deaths of five human embryos,” she stated.
>> RELATED: ALABAMA REPUBLICANS OVERWHELMINGLY PASS PRO-IVF BILL <<
Pro-life Concordia University Wisconsin student Anna Young wrote a Wednesday article in The Federalist titled “There’s Nothing Pro-Life About Ted Cruz And Katie Britt’s IVF Bill.”
Young called the Republicans’ bill “a reactionary political move to Alabama’s ruling earlier this year affirming basic biological and scientific reality that embryos are, in fact, persons.”
“In The Wall Street Journal, Cruz and Britt claim they can protect both life and IVF through their legislation blackmailing states that prohibit IVF from receiving federal Medicaid funding,” Young added.
Young also argued that Cruz’s closely-contested re-election race in November may be a motivation behind his decision to back the bill:
It seems Cruz is abandoning federalism, trying to save his seat by playing both sides, claiming to be a leading voice for life and a leading voice against Obamacare and federal health care mandates on his campaign website. Cruz’s Democrat opponent in this fall’s Senate race, Colin Allred, is a pro-abortion activist, claiming Cruz is too extreme on abortion. It makes me wonder if the race is a little too tight for Cruz’s comfort and he is pandering to the suburban mom for political points.
As CatholicVote reported on Monday, Cruz had said he is “proud to partner with” Britt to make sure “IVF is fully protected at the federal level.”
“IVF has given miraculous hope to millions of Americans, and it has given families across the country the gift of children,” he said.
