New legislation is being proposed in the state of Illinois that would amend the “Reproductive Health Act” (which allows for abortion-on-demand—which is not “reproductive health,” but death to an unborn child) to include Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) as a “fundamental right” for residents of that state. Now what’s wrong with such a bill?
Well, reproductive technologies come with a wide range of ethical dilemmas and outright evils, such as “the serial manufacturing and destruction of embryos” for various reproductive procedures, the intentional killing of embryos deemed “less fit” for survival, the selective abortion of multiples, or the purposeful creation of intentionally motherless and fatherless children (for LGBTQ couples or single individuals, for example).
If this legislation passes, it would:
Bar the state from regulating embryo creation, storage, destruction, supply, how many eggs and sperm an individual can “donate” in exchange for money, whether biological matter used for procreation can be submitted for genetic testing, and the handpicked breeding methods used to support the designer baby purchasing trend.
In other words, Illinois would be part of the “wild, wild West” of reproductive technology, with no ethical guidelines governing this practice. And the reason that the lawmaker putting forth the bill can suggest such a law is because she believes,
A fertilized egg, embryo, or fetus does not have independent rights under the laws of this State.
And,
The individuals who use assisted reproductive technology have a fundamental right to make autonomous decisions regarding the human oocytes [eggs], sperm, and embryos used or created by those individuals during their use of that technology.
It’s these beliefs—that an unborn baby is not a person (not a human) so there’s no need for any kind of protections for the child whatsoever—that she wants enshrined in state law. How evil!
Furthermore, this kind of thinking asserts that what adults wish for and desire (which may be a good thing, like a baby) is more important than the rights of a child (such as every child’s right to life or right to both a mother and a father). In our culture, it’s becoming increasingly obvious that adult desires trump children’s rights—all that matters is that an adult has consented to the use of a reproductive technology. But morality is about so much more than consent!
The rights of children matter. God designed the family unit in Genesis when he created one man and one woman, brought them together into marriage, and gave them the command to “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:27–28). That’s God’s design for the family! Many of these reproductive technologies subvert God’s design and destroy the lives of countless embryos (the murder of humans made in God’s image!) along the way.
Christians need to thoughtfully consider the use of reproductive technologies, fight against the destruction of unborn children—including embryos—and stand against legislation such as what is being proposed in Illinois that completely removes any protections that unborn children may have.
The rights of children matter!
