A trio of pro-life congressmen, led by Rep. Josh Brecheen, R-OK, penned a letter to the Biden administration’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) this week, demanding accountability for the in-vitro fertilization (IVF) industry’s destruction of human lives.
In the Tuesday letter to CDC Director Mandy Cohen, Brecheen was joined by Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-MT, and Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-GA. Rosendale is Catholic.
CatholicVote is among the pro-life groups in support of the letter.
“Our nation’s birth certificate, the Declaration of Independence, clearly recognizes the government’s role in securing the natural right to life,” the congressmen wrote.
“In spite of this, the IVF industry has long operated under the radar of lawmakers in the United States,” they continued.
The three lawmakers noted that “other Western countries prohibit clinics from practicing eugenics or carelessly destroying human life.” However, “the U.S. does not even require clinics to be transparent about their participation in these activities.”
“This carelessness has earned the U.S. the title of the ‘Wild West’ of assisted reproductive technology,” Brecheen and his two colleagues added.
They specified:
[IVF] Clinics are not required to disclose the total number of embryos they create, how many they store indefinitely, or how many they destroy and for what reasons. Shockingly, clinics are not even required to disclose statistics on their application of genetic screening, which more than 70% of fertility clinics utilize for sex-selection.
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“Congress cannot allow clinics to continue concealing these activities, which carry significant moral and ethical implications, from the public,” emphasized the trio of Republicans.
Later in their letter, the congressmen asked the CDC if the agency “is aware of” the number of embryos “created in total each year through the process of IVF?”
They also asked for the number of embryos destroyed each year, as well as the number of embryos “currently in storage,” and “[t]he average length of time an embryo created through IVF is kept in storage.”
Furthermore, the lawmakers asked for the number of embryos subject to genetic screening – and the number of embryos destroyed after such screening.
“Does the CDC maintain any moral or ethical concerns regarding the use of genetic
screening to select embryos based on genetic abnormalities, sex, or physical attributes?” Brecheen, Rosendale, and Clyde went on to ask:
Does the CDC maintain any moral or ethical concerns regarding the intentional creation and destruction of excess embryos during the process of IVF?
Does the CDC maintain any moral or ethical concerns regarding the indefinite storage of embryos created through IVF?
The CDC is an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). HHS is led by Secretary Xavier Becerra, a self-professed Catholic who supports abortion and the LGBTQ movement.
Co-signer Rosendale stated in a Tuesday press release: “Human life should be respected as a miracle from our Creator, not treated as a fully customizable luxury vehicle.”
“Just because society can, does not mean it should alter the genetics of the Lord’s already perfect work,” added the Catholic congressman. “We should be working towards the protection of every human life, not finding more ways to toss away human embryos like they are undesirable parts.”
The Daily Signal’s Mary Margaret Olohan noted that the congressmen’s letter “comes as Republicans grapple with both messaging and legislating on IVF … given the expendable way in which human embryos are often treated.”
Olohan continued:
Following the Alabama Supreme Court ruling in favor of protecting embryonic human life, Republicans on Capitol Hill have suddenly found themselves being asked to state their position on IVF, a nuanced subject matter tied closely to the dignity of the human person and the fight for life.
LifeNews Note: Joshua Mercer writes for CatholicVote, where this column originally appeared.
