Stop Mandated Coverage of Harmful IVF Practices

Stop Mandated Coverage of Harmful IVF Practices  

A bill mandating that health insurance plans, including those provided by religious organizations, cover unethical infertility interventions continues to gain traction in Minnesota.

The legislation is broad in scope, requiring coverage of testing, treatment, and infertility interventions that remove the conception of the child from the union of his or her biological parents, such as in vitro fertilization (IVF).

  

The bill also requires coverage for fertility services provided by third parties. This means that the creation of life is further separated from the conjugal act of a husband and wife due to the coverage of donated sperm or eggs. But it could also mean the use of someone else’s womb through a surrogacy arrangement.

In addition, the bill’s preference for single-embryo transfer often goes hand in hand with genetic testing, which can involve eugenics practices to create “designer babies.”

The risks to children conceived through Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) are alarming. Studies indicate that ART-conceived children face higher rates of premature birth, low birth weight, and other health complications compared to naturally conceived children.

If violations of religious liberty through the insurance coverage mandate or the potential health risks and eugenic practices do not prompt you to speak out, perhaps the dollar sign will. The bill sets no limits on the number of covered embryo transfers in IVF procedures, leading to concerns about the financial burden and the increased insurance premiums the public will face. With one IVF cycle often costing between $15,000  and $30,000, and with three to four cycles often required for a viable pregnancy, the financial implications are staggering. Reaching upwards of $120,000 or more, these costs will lead to increased insurance premiums for both employers and employees.

Support Restorative Reproductive Medicine

A better path forward involves Restorative Reproductive Medicine (RRM). This approach aims to treat underlying conditions and diseases that lead to infertility. It can also help women, including those not struggling with infertility, manage  various conditions and alleviate symptoms associated with reproduction or menstruation. We should encourage the Minnesota Department of Health to integrate information about RRM into their existing health plans to increase awareness among  couples and physicians.

Church Teaching: 

The Church in Her wisdom teaches that there are ethical bounds to the conception of a child that must be safeguarded and that the scientific ability to create a child through various technological means does not make it just for the parents, child, or society.

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “Techniques that entail the dissociation of husband and wife, by the intrusion of a person other than the couple … infringe the child's right to be born of a father and mother known to him and bound to each other by marriage. They betray the spouses' right to become a father and a mother only through each other” (CCC 2376).