Abortion Hypocisry

 The Abortion Hypocrisy

Either a Fertilized Egg is a Fetus, or it Isn’t

 

The Alabama Supreme Court has thrown the national GOP into a tailspin. 

Recently, that court ruled that embryos created as part of in vitro fertilization (IVF) are “extrauterine fetuses” who have rights and interests. The ruling was based upon language from the the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in the Dobbs case that overruled Roe v. Wade’s protection for some abortions with some biblical references thrown in for good measure. Dobbs held that unborn fetuses are people who must be protected.

The Alabama decision is a logical outgrowth of the scientifically discredited idea that life begins when a man’s sperm fertilizes a woman’s egg. That notion is the basis of the argument that all abortions should be banned and was a major underpinning of the Dobbs decision.

Applying that logic to human embryos created in a laboratory petri dish by fertilizing a woman’s egg with a man’s sperm effectively ends the use of that procedure.  IVF does not work sometimes. When a fertilized egg from the lab is implanted into the woman’s uterus, it sometimes does not develop into a fetus. To allow for multiple attempts to have a successful pregnancy, couples sometimes have multiple embryos created in the lab which are frozen for implantation later. If the first embryo does develop, then the frozen embryos may not be needed and are often destroyed. What to be done with these unused embryos led to the Alabama decision. As a direct result of the ruling, Alabama IVF clinics suspended all further procedures out of a well-founded fear they might be prosecuted for killing an unborn child or held financially liable for wrongful death if they did not preserve them forever.

That is a result too far for many republicans, hence the loud retreat from the Alabama ruling. 

Unfortunately, many in the GOP have supported the Alabama logic. 124 republican members of the House of Representatives, including Wisconsin members, Scott Fitzgerald, Glenn Grothman, and Mike Gallagher co-sponsored the Life Begins at Conception Act in the last session. 18 U.S. senators co-sponsored a similar bill in the Senate. Legislatures in 14 states have introduced similar legislation with four passing their bills into law. A recent bill introduced in the U.S. Senate to protect IVF was blocked by a Mississippi senator. 

Recognizing that IVF is very popular and used by thousands of voters every year to have children, republicans running for re-election have tried to distance themselves from the Alabama ruling and its logic. The former president who brags about overturning Roe v. Wade through his Supreme Court appointments just came out in favor of in vitro fertilization.  The republican controlled Alabama legislature is rushing to pass a bill exempting IVF embryos from the “life begins at conception” theory. The GOP controlled Florida legislature just suspended consideration of a “personhood” bill that could have ended IVF procedures there. 

The problem is that either life begins when sperm fertilizes an egg, or it does not. You cannot have it both ways. 

The GOP coalition depends upon support from those who believe ours is, or should be, a Christian nation governed by religious teachings, not the rule of law. Even they will see the inconsistency when their preferred candidates support IVF and undercut their favored argument against abortion that “life begins at conception.”

This dilemma is a perfect example of the need foreseen by our founding fathers of keeping religious beliefs out of the political discourse and governance by erecting a wall between the church and the state. Our founding documents make it clear that we are free to believe in the God of ones choosing but are prohibited from imposing those beliefs on those who believe differently or not at all. Our political and legal systems were meant to be governed by reason and facts supported by science, not beliefs which can not be supported empirically.

The logical problem presented exposes the failure of those in the cult of the former occupant of the White House to recognize why democracy is better than authoritarian dictatorship. Authoritarian dictators make everything about them, facts and science and logic be damned. “Trust me” is the mantra that allows unfettered governance that leads to disaster. It allows the dictator to do has he pleases. Campaign proclamations on this issue are worthless when it comes to votes and donations. 

 In November, voters will have to choose between Democracy and an autocratic Christian Nationalism, you cannot have it both ways.