Sunday, November 11, 2012

Poland to offer state-funded IVF

Poland's bishops' conference has condemned a decision by their country's liberal centre-right Government to allow state funding of in vitro fertilisation, or IVF.

"Such an important matter should be debated in parliament, where it's unacceptable to impose party discipline on issues of conscience," the bishops' spokesman, Mgr Jozef Kloch, told a Polish radio station. 

"The bishops have made their position clear on numerous occasions - that there are other methods of treatment, notably through naprotechnology, whereas IVF merely evades the problem".

The priest was reacting to Prime Minister Donald Tusk's announcement that IVF would be made available under the health budget for 15,000 married and unmarried couples over a preliminary three-year period.