Preserving Even the Smallest Life

Our God, who is the Creator and author of life, calls on us to live according to His principles; and our regard or disregard for life can affect the way we treat other humans, as well. Moses underscored a proper attitude in Deuteronomy 30, writing:
19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;
20 that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them."

The Southern Baptist Convention, in its annual meeting in Indianapolis, has taken up the issue of in vitro fertilization, calling for a pro-life approach to "reproductive technologies," according to The Tennessean website. This comes after a life-affirming Alabama Supreme Court decision declaring embryos produced in the IVF process as human beings.  

The report on that publication says:

The resolution calls on Southern Baptists to only support reproductive technologies that affirm the "unconditional value and right to life of every human being, including those in an embryonic stage."

It also said, according to the website: 

The SBC's resolution contends that IVF "most often engages in the destruction of embryonic human life and increasingly engages in dehumanizing methods for determining suitability for life."

It calls on Southern Baptists to "advocate for the government to restrain actions inconsistent with the dignity and value of every human being, which necessarily includes frozen embryonic human beings."

There was a question posed by a website recently that I think should be instructive to those in Alabama who are pro-life.  The Alabama Reflector stated that after the bill passed the Legislature during its regular session offering immunity to in-vitro fertilization clinics in the state that "legislators said they planned to form a commission to study the issue further." It adds, "Almost three months later, that commission has yet to form."

The bill's sponsor was quoted in the article and said that she didn't have further information, but that there were plans to tour IVF clinics in the state. The article said: "Following a Feb. 16 Alabama Supreme Court decision that declared frozen embryos children, the Legislature moved quickly to protect IVF clinics from criminal and civil liability." It noted that "critics called the legislation a 'Band-Aid fix,'" and said that some lawmakers "signaled they would study the issue further."  The article went on to say:

The court’s ruling stemmed from a lawsuit regarding the unauthorized destruction of frozen embryos at a Mobile clinic in 2020. It decided that the parents could seek damages under an 1872 state law for the deaths of their children.

Following the ruling, several IVF programs closed due to legal risks to patients and providers. The Mobile health care system that provided in vitro fertilization (IVF) care said the clinic will stop the services at the end of the year, citing lawsuits over the fertility treatment.

While progressive lawmakers said the bill was a "Band-Aid," pro-life groups believed that the legislation did not protect those that the Supreme Court decision was intended to protect - children who are produced by IVF. Live Action reported:

The new law came quickly on the heels of a legal case regarding embryos that were destroyed when a client managed to access the storage area of a fertility clinic. The parents of those embryos sued the fertility clinic under the state’s Wrongful Death of a Minor Act and the Alabama Supreme Court ruled in favor of the parents. That decision — that frozen embryos must be considered children under the state’s Wrongful Death of a Minor Act — set off a media frenzy of inaccurate reports claiming that IVF treatments were at risk.

The article goes on to say: "Interestingly, the law admits that the destruction of embryos is equivalent to the “death” of those embryos, which means, that legislators admit human embryos are alive before they are destroyed...," and noted, "The Alabama Supreme Court ruling had been in favor of the parents whose embryos were destroyed. This law makes it difficult for other parents to file similar lawsuits." Since multiple embryos are produced in IVF, the important question has to do with what happens if these embryos are not implanted - are they put to death?  

Live Action president and founder Lila Rose is quoted, saying:

This law violates the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which mandates that no state shall deny to any person the equal protection of the laws….

This new law also violates the Alabama Constitution, which states that Alabama “acknowledges, declares, and affirms that it is the public policy of this state to recognize and support the sanctity of unborn life and the rights of unborn children, including the right to life. This state further acknowledges, declares, and affirms that it is the public policy of this state to ensure the protection of the rights of the unborn child in all manners and measures lawful and appropriate.”

According to the SBA Pro-Life America organization's website, prior to votes on the legislation, SBA Pro-Life America, Alabama Policy Institute, Alabama Pro-Life Coalition, and Eagle Forum of Alabama issued a statement, which said, in part:

“It is unacceptable the Alabama legislature has advanced a bill that falls short of pro-life expectations and fails to respect the dignity of human life. Alabama can do both: allow the continued practice of IVF with care for those suffering from infertility and respect life created through the IVF. We have full confidence that the same legislature that passed a law protecting the unborn throughout pregnancy will also take this crucial step to continue protecting all human life, in keeping with the people of Alabama who are ardently pro-life.”

IVF was not in danger of being eliminated in Alabama, so a panic turned into bad policy. In an effort to get the clinics to re-open, the Legislature passed insufficient legislation, providing immunity for clinics and not providing protection for the human embryos, deemed to be persons by the Alabama Supreme Court.  That was not addressed; in fact, one Senator even wanted to change the definition of "life" due to this faux crisis. 

Now, the Alabama Legislature must act - instead of chasing the false fantasies of gambling, perhaps sober-minded legislators can devote time to really putting their stated pro-life credentials on display. Sometimes you have to make the tough choices - and protecting these embryos that are produced in IVF.

In our own lives, in many cases, action is better sooner rather than later.  The Legislature could have and should have addressed this in the 2024 regular session, but it did not. We have to make sure, in our personal lives, that we are not procrastinating, kicking the can down the road, in order to avoid a decision that may be difficult.  We have the Word of God, the wisdom of God, and the direction of the Spirit - we don't have to make hasty decisions, but we should be intent on making timely ones.