In a significant move, the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant church in the US with over 13 million members, has voted to oppose in vitro fertilization (IVF). The church’s stance against IVF comes in response to the procedure’s high levels of embryonic destruction, and its separation of procreation from a marital union.
The Southern Baptist denomination’s firm belief in the sanctity of life, starting at the moment of conception, is at odds with the practice of IVF. The procedure often involves over-fertilizing eggs without a plan for implantation, freezing leftover embryos, and even the destruction of these embryos once a couple achieves pregnancy or no longer wishes to keep them. The church has condemned these practices, describing them as hugely problematic.
The church has also denounced the manner in which IVF separates procreation from a conjugal union of spouses in marriage. This, they argue, goes against the ordained plan of God for begetting children. It contends that IVF commoditizes children, contrary to their dignity as human beings.
Even as the church’s stance could potentially apply pressure on politicians to regulate or even eliminate the IVF industry, the public and political reception to these views is yet to be seen. The church equates the wilful destruction of fertilized embryos during IVF to abortion, and highlights the significant teleological and biological orientation of sexuality and reproduction.