Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., filed the IVF Protection Act on Monday, 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.
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.
I was on the steps of the Supreme Court when Roe v. Wade was finally thrown where it belongs: onto the ash heap of history. Reporters bombarded me with questions not so much about abortion but about all the other golden calves of the left: gay marriage, birth control, and, of course, IVF. This is all fearmongering, as no state has fully banned IVF to date.
The case in Alabama exposed the procedural and safety negligence of one particular IVF facility, not to mention a total disregard for the fragility of the lives they had in their care. Specifically, a random patient at that Alabama facility was close enough to the liquid nitrogen tank containing frozen embryos to destroy them. This is not only an abomination of safety standards but a blatant disregard for the preciousness of human life. Alabama IVF facilities didn’t have to close down; they simply had to increase the care and protection of the embryos they handled. Any intentional damages to an embryo in Alabama now fall under Alabama’s Wrongful Death of a Child Act, something no one should be against.
We have to look at the simple facts. IVF involves the routine destruction of human life (embryos) under the guise of “fertility treatments.” IVF increases eugenic-like embryo-grading when IVF specialists screen the embryos for genetic disorders, handicaps, or even sex and then decide which embryos to discard.
Sadly, the IVF industry probably isn’t going anywhere, with an expected revenue of $37.4 billion by 2030. I hope the well-being of children, not merely profit margins, is brought into the IVF conversation. According to FertilityIQ data, the cost of a single cycle of IVF costs on average more than $20,000. The majority of IVF patients will fail on their first cycle and will continue treatment for a second, third, or fourth cycle. The average patient, according to FertilityIQ, undergoes two cycles, costing them $40,000 to $60,000.
A report from the U.K. found that for every woman who undergoes IVF, an average of 15 embryos are made, but only 7 percent of all created embryos result in a live birth. Keep in mind, other countries such as Germany, New Zealand, and France only allow fertility facilities to implant one to two embryos per cycle to limit the destruction of human embryos. Cruz and Britt’s bill does not regulate or address the number of embryos created in the United States’ IVF industry.
Britt and Cruz joined Bloomberg News to explain that their bill simply creates a federal right to have access to IVF. “IVF is a miraculous medical technology, it enables millions of parents to have children, to be parents,” Cruz raved. “Two percent of live births in America right now today come from IVF. It’s incredible. … IVF is incredibly pro-family, that we should be standing and helping parents who want to raise kids.” Because IVF has the potential to create new life, Britt and Cruz believe it is a pro-life stance to be pro-IVF.
Unfortunately for most couples, Cruz and Britt’s statement that “IVF is profoundly pro-family” is simply not true. Many couples who have a genuine desire to create a family spend their life savings on fertility treatments that fail and destroy life in the process. It is time we are honest and shed light on the IVF industry’s lack of regulation and safety standards, something Cruz and Britt’s bill did not attempt to improve.
Cruz’s Bloomberg interview went on to dismiss pro-lifers’ concerns, as he pointed to polling that showed IVF is a 90/10 issue. He shared that “people of good faith and good morals disagree” on abortion … but on IVF we oughta be able to unify everybody.”
Many conservatives grieve, rightfully so, over the atrocity of abortion when one embryo is destroyed, yet celebrate the “miracle of IVF” that has destroyed over 85 percent of the embryos it intentionally created.
If Cruz and Britt wanted to make a positive ethical change to the IVF industry, I would love to see it. This bill merely gives more power to the federal government to hold Medicaid funds hostage over a serious ethical issue. It is impossible to protect both life and IVF when IVF destroys more lives than it creates.
Anna Young is a pro-life advocate, student at Concordia University Wisconsin, and Students for Life Spokeswoman Alumni.
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