The cultural acceptability of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) in Ireland has been forcefully criticised in an article for the September edition of Intercom magazine, as has the lack of legislation here to protect frozen embryos. Intercom is a resource magazine for priests and laity published on behalf of the Irish Catholic Bishops.
Margaret Byrne, a PhD student of moral theology at St Patrick's College, Maynooth, writes that "it would appear from media, and everyday living, that IVF is culturally acceptable and that very few even realise or are aware of the ethical implications of undergoing treatment for assisted human reproduction (AHR)".
These were "a real concern, especially so in Ireland, as there is a lack of any legislation in place to monitor the practice of fertility clinics," she says.
She says Donum Vitae (a 1987 instruction from the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, of which Pope Benedict was then prefect) "makes it very clear that no one has a right to have a child, as a right to a child would be contrary to the child's dignity and nature. A child is not an object to which one has the right to, a child is a gift."
She notes that "as outlined in Donum Vitae, uncontrolled use of AHR technologies could lead to unforeseeable consequences for civil society: 'Recourse to the conscience of each individual and to the self-regulation of researchers cannot be sufficient for ensuring respect for personal rights and public order'. This is, however, the condition in which AHR treatment is carried out in Ireland."
She criticises "the questionable practice of the 'surplus' production of human embryos. The development of the method of IVF necessitates inestimable fertilisations and destructions of human embryos. The embryos that are not transferred to the mother's womb are referred to as 'spare': some are frozen and some are destroyed. The association between IVF and the intentional destruction of human embryos occurs too frequently."
The freezing of human embryos "constitutes an offence against the dignity and respect due to human beings by leaving them vulnerable and exposed to grave risks of death or harm to their physical well-being," she says.
Freezing embryos "may relieve the woman of the cost and the physical burden of further egg retrievals in the IVF process and may also temporarily preserve the life of the embryo", but "it brings with it extremely worrying medical, ethical and legal issues . . . during the lengthy period between fertilisation and implantation which cryopreservation permits.
"It is in these instances that the embryo is treated as a means to an end and as a commodity rather than as an end in and for itself."
In Ireland there was "a clear distinction made between the embryo formed in vivo and the embryo formed through IVF. One is deemed entitled to legal protection and one undeserving of legal protection.
There already exists protection for the 'unborn' in the Irish Constitution. This piece of legislation needs to be defined further so that the law can protect the unborn child," she says.
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