Listen to this articleUnder a bill proposed by Vice Presidential candidate Rep. Paul Ryan, in vitro fertilizations could be outlawed. Ryan was a co-sponsor of the Sanctity of Human Life Act, which says that human life begins at fertilization and affirms that all states have the right to protect all life.
The wording of the bill is somewhat vague, but critics argue that the bill, if passed, would allow a rapist to sue his victim in court and stop her from terminating a pregnancy. There are no exemptions made for any cases, even incest and rape.
Also troubling is the effect the bill could have on IVF pregnancies, which is a common way for gay couples to conceive. In IVF, doctors usually create many fully fertilized embryos and only implant the healthy ones in the woman. The other embryos are usually destroyed. But the Sanctity of Human Life Act would make all those embryos people in every legal sense. If they aren’t used or don’t become babies, they would be murder victims.
Adding insult to injury, three of Mitt Romney’s own children have relied on IVF to produce some of his 18 grandchildren. There are more than 60,000 children born each year through IVF and 10 to 15 percent of all couples in the United States are affected by infertility.
