Test tube baby ban next on bishops' agenda?

The Catholic bishops' decision to meddle in the governor's race over the issue of embryonic stem cell research has prompted some to ask why they haven't come out against in vitro fertilization, which is the reason there are 400,000 or more surplus embryos in storage to begin with.

It has also caused others to ask why they are not as outspoken against the death penalty, which the church also opposes, but let's try to stay focused.

Actually, the church has come out firmly against in vitro fertilization, or what are sometimes called test tube babies -- so firmly that a Catholic school teacher in Wisconsin who used the process to become pregnant lost her job.

Green Bay Bishop David Zubik explained the church's position against in vitro fertilization in a column last week in the Manitowoc newspaper:

The in vitro process takes place outside of the normal relations of a wife and husband and usually involves the multiple fertilization of eggs outside the body. Some of those fertilized eggs are implanted in the uterus, hoping that a new life continues to grow and be born. Some, however, are destroyed and others are frozen -- perhaps for future use. According to a 2003 report conducted by the American Society of Reproductive Medicine and the Rand Corporation, there are nearly 400,000 frozen embryos in the United States...

Catholics and the community at large should be concerned. How is it that we have become a society that uses words such as "destroy," "freeze" or "use" to describe what we do with human life? We believe so strongly that each of those fertilized eggs is a life. We also believe that the process of life should begin naturally within the loving embrace of a husband and wife. We fear that, with the rapid expansion of technical methods of fertilization, that human reproduction can too easily be just that: technical, with the "ends justifying the means."

I do empathize with the married couples who struggle with the issues of infertility and their desire for a child -- a desire so strong that they may not even know or consider the above problematic factors of in vitro fertilization. I urge couples to consider the possibility of adopting children who need a loving home.

Moreover, I urge them to learn more about the technical interventions that the Catholic church does support. There are options! These options assist the natural marriage act in a morally legitimate way.

What are these "technical interventions" the bishop mentions?

A forum this week in Appleton offered some information. (There appears to be a lot more public discussion of the issues in the Fox Valley than elsewhere in the state.) The Post-Crescent reported:

The Rev. John Doerfler, vicar general and chancellor of the Diocese of Green Bay ... is doing his doctoral dissertation on reproductive technologies...

He stressed that the "church believes any technological intervention that assists the natural conjugal act between a husband and wife can be morally legitimate. We're not against everything."

Medical science and technology to enhance and improve a couple's chances of conceiving, such as NaProTechnology, are good options, he said.

"What we oppose is any technological means that replaces the natural act between husband and wife," he said.

NaProTechnology (Natural Procreative Technology), unlike artificial means such as in vitro fertilization, provides medical and surgical treatment for infertility that does not interfere with the natural reproductive cycle.

NaProTechnology was developed by Dr. Thomas Hilgers, director of the Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction and the National Center for Women's Health in Omaha, Neb. Hilgers maintains that infertility is a symptom of an underlying disease, and the root cause of that disease must be identified and treated before pregnancy.

"We can use modern medicine, but use it in a way that is definitely pro-life and is very much natural," said Hannemann, who calls NaProTechnology one of the "best-kept secrets" around for successfully treating infertility.

"It's important for people to know there are different options," said Pam Pingel, of Neenah, mother of three living children and two deceased, who used progesterone therapy, a NaProtechnology technique, to successfully conceive and carry a child to term...

Lisa DeJarlais, Appleton, who has suffered through infertility and the loss of two of her four children, also will attend. She is Catholic and said an area doctor trained in using NaProTechnology -- her treatment included drugs, vitamins and charting -- both helped her conceive in accordance with church teachings, and pinpointed the polycystic ovarian disease that caused her problems.

Predictably, the forum brought out some conflicting opinions, too:

Amy Malinski wants it known not every couple that chooses in vitro fertilization has lost its moral compass in the creation of a new life.

Four months ago she and her husband, Scott, gave birth to their son, Maxwell, thanks to the process.

The Malinskis, who are Roman Catholics, had no misgivings over their decision, which has stirred debate after the firing by the ACES/Xavier school system of a teacher who became pregnant by in vitro fertilization because the procedure violates Catholic Church teachings.

"I look at my son and he is a miracle my husband and I did do," Malinski said Tuesday after a two-hour event at Xavier High School that examined fertility technologies through the lens of church teachings...

Speakers Tuesday night stressed compassion for couples who are struggling with infertility and have chosen to follow conception methods outside the teachings of the church...

Malinski, however, said that she hopes the church researches further its position on in vitro fertilization so that people understand some processes don't require male masturbation to harvest sperm or the implanting of multiple fertilized eggs.

"I don't think everyone has all the information. They make it sound like we're all killing our babies," she said, adding she became pregnant using those methods on her first try with a single fertilized egg.

So, the Catholic church is consistent, at least, opposing both in vitro fertilization and embryonic stem cell research, which uses the embryos from that process.

If Catholics don't want to have test tube babies, that's fine with me. I'm all for holding down the birth rate anyway.

But the church would cross the line if it began to lobby for laws to outlaw in vitro fertilization for everyone and make it illegal to use that procedure to conceive. Imagine the outcry that would provoke.

If the bishops asked the candidates for governor to oppose in vitro, would Mark Green say they were "right on?"

That's what they've done on embryonic stem cell research, and that was Green's response. Gov. Jim Doyle, saying he "respectfully disagrees," politely told the bishops to butt out.

Once you start letting the church determine your position, the slope quickly gets slippery.