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Speaking out about IVF

Mark Oshinskie
Reproduced with Permission

Father Jerry recently exhorted LifeIssues readers to speak out about reproductive technology in his weekly LifeIssues.net newsletter. I agree that it is important to do so, and that this is not done nearly often enough. Some of you have been speaking about abortion, contraception, IVF, sperm and egg sales, sex selection, eugenic abortion and genetic engineering for a long time. I owe all of you a big debt of gratitude, because these topics are so important and because speaking out on these is unpopular. On those occasions when I hear others weigh in on life issues, I feel grateful that someone else sees the larger picture.

I suspect that most of you are Christians of one denomination or other. Perhaps, as I do, you live in a secular town or in a secular state. If you are American, you live in an increasingly secular nation. And regardless of where you live, you live in an increasingly secular world. Hence, you are keenly aware that not everyone shares your theistic opposition to reprotech. But God must have loved secular humanists, because he made a lot of them.

I have sometimes been mystified that secular humanists usually support abortion and reprotech. I suspect that this is largely because secular humanism is a near term, quality of life, materialist world view. It is an article of secular humanist faith that that which facilitates sexual gratification and the fulfillment of individual wishes is good. Abortion and reprotech fit that bill.

But I often think all people, including secular humanists, should be troubled by the quintessential cruelty and nihilism of abortion, as well as the dehumanizing commodfication of life and social stratification caused by reprotech. As I also have some interest in improving life on planet Earth - even if it cannot rival the world to follow - I have tried to explain to the spiritual and secular alike what reprotech entails, both medically and socially. I've had many spirited discussions, written countless essays and letters to the editor and even recorded some songs with such charming titles such as "Frozen Embryos" and "Sperm Bank Love" that have been on various radio stations. My basic message is that, aside from the spiritual dimensions of reprotech, commodifying and designing life on the behalf of some individuals makes the world a worse place to live for everyone.

I think of notions that are sacred to the secular. One of these is that people are unique individuals to whom principles of control and design should not apply. Secularists also value equality of opportunity. Meritocracy, usually based on one sort of attainment or other: academic, athletic, aesthetic or musical, also has many adherents. Despite the oft-stated view that we are products of our environments and our diligence, such secular writers as Francis Fukuyama, Michael Sandel and Bill McKibben state what is unmistakably true: the talents and attributes that society values are strongly genetically influenced. Those with the means to do so will use reprotech to appropriate to themselves these talents and attributes, causing far greater stratification, and more profound human alienation than ever.

From the grand scale and the future, to the mundane and the present. One day, I was riding in my car with our son, Kevin. Seeing a boastful parents' bumper sticker about their Honor Student, he told me with obvious amusement, of a Mad Magazine article that parodied these stickers, replacing them with more modest claims, such as "My Son was Cleared of Any Wrongdoing in the Johnson Middle School Fire." Then he paused and, knowing of my concern about reprotech said, "You should parody that type of sticker with your eugenics stuff."

So I just did. The attached is intended to speak to that vast number of people who don't read LifeNet or books by scholars. Most of this "other 99%" are clueless about reprotech and should be shown the huge dark side of the biomedical Trojan Horse.

Some consider any public criticism of IVF to be impolite, insensitive or otherwise inappropriate. But LifeIssues frequently, and rightfully, contains articles describing IVF's many negative aspects. Is this sticker too sarcastic? I don't think so. It is literally true and, as each month of genomic study passes, it becomes truer. That, itself, is not very nice. And in today's world there has to be at least as much room for satirical social comment as there was in the times of Swift, Twain, Orwell or Sinclair Lewis.

The sticker shows very directly, and concisely, what is at stake. Reprotech has not only moral dimensions but also practical effects that will shape the world in which all live. In the name of individual choice, reprotech is eclipsing notions of human uniqueness and equality of opportunity that most people, spiritual and secular, hold dear. That deserves public discussion, and even some confrontation. If we are not willing to state our message forcefully and to the larger, secular world, we should stop thinking about reprotech at all. Instead, we can just spend our time developing insipid, inoffensive hobbies so people will like us more. Everyone will be happy, in a Brave New World sort of way.

I proudly display one of these. I hope you will, too. I only ask $2 for each one so that you'll be motivated to display it. And, better still, so I can print more and send them to others.

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