Ohio lawmakers introduced a bill Monday, July 11, 2022, that would effectively ban all abortions, except to save the life of a mother.
State Rep. Gary Click, R-Vickery, introduced House Bill 704 which states that Ohio must "recognize the personhood, and protect the constitutional rights, of all unborn human individuals from the moment of conception."
Click's bill, which is being co-sponsored by seven other lawmakers, could also potentially ban other forms of birth control such as certain intrauterine devices (or IUDs) that interfere with an already fertilized ova.
There are also a host of other questions raised with other medical procedures handling fertilized embryos, such as in vitro fertilizations. IVFs occur when fertilization happens in a lab, and the embryo can be later implanted into a uterus.
It's common practice for IVF labs to freeze embryos for future use or discarded and donate unused ones.
"We may be out of business because of the potential of what happens if the embryo doesn’t make it to viability," said Dr. Thomas Burwinkel, an IVF specialist from Cincinnati, to the Toledo Blade. "Will they say we caused this unborn child not to make it to the point of transfer?”
(Titus Wu. “Ohio lawmakers introduce bill banning abortion at conception unless mother's life at risk.” The Columbus Dispatch. July 12, 2022.)
The Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, and quickly GOP lawmakers in Ohio made abortion illegal if fetal cardiac activity is detected, which is around six weeks of gestation, though most people usually do not know if they are pregnant by then.
It doesn't stop there – Republican leaders who control Ohio government have signaled they would pursue a full abortion ban with exception to save the mother's life. An exception for victims of rape and incest is not expected. If that's the case, such a ban could be in effect in Ohio as early as 2023.
Other bills restricting abortion are pending in the Ohio legislature. Senate Bill 123 and House Bill 598 would be "trigger bans,” banning abortion only when Roe v. Wade is overturned. House Bill 480 would allow for lawsuits from private citizens against those committing abortion but prohibits the government from enforcing it.
(Titus Wu. “Ohio lawmakers introduce bill banning abortion at conception unless mother's life at risk.” The Columbus Dispatch. July 12, 2022.)
Doctors like Thomas Burwinkel MD work so hard to bring the joy of parenthood to hopeful parents through innovative science. Burwinkel is a board certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. He once served as the medical director of the in vitro fertilization (IVF) program at Kettering Medical Center in Dayton, Ohio.
Dr. Burwinkel describes his mission …
“Ovation Fertility brings hope to families by applying the latest advances in reproductive science through a unique collaboration of compassionate clinicians and scientists who are driven to exceed patients' expectations of outcomes.
“What stands between you and a baby? Our life’s work is dedicated to discovering the reasons and removing the obstacles that prevent conception. The research our partner physicians and scientists have published over the past 35 years explores the causes of infertility — female infertility, male infertility, combined, unknown or situational factors — and has led to breakthrough treatments that open doors to families.
“Ovation® Fertility is a national network of IVF labs, genetics labs and partner physician practices committed to applying leading-edge treatment through the hands and minds of the world’s foremost experts.
“Ovation is a result of an unprecedented collaboration among more than 70 of the brightest minds in reproductive medicine who share a strong common bond, having dedicated their lives to resolving infertility-related challenges. We have worked side-by-side for decades to establish U.S. industry standards and contribute to worldwide fertility research. It was only natural to forge a meaningful partnership among our peers to build one of the country’s most effective integrated healthcare delivery platforms specializing in infertility.”
(Thomas Burwinkel, MD. Ovation Fertility. 2022.)
The Sad Reality
Approximately 1 in 8 couples is affected by infertility in the United States. IVF – in vitro fertilization – has been around since the late 1970s, and it has allowed hundreds of thousands of heterosexual couples struggling to conceive, as well as same-sex couples and those who are single but want children, to build their families. According to CDC data, about 2 in every 100 children born in the United States every year are conceived through IVF.
(“National Survey of Family Growth, 2006-2010.” Centers For Disease Control)
While the main target of these bans is to restrict abortion care, fertility and legal experts say that without the protection of Roe v. Wade, state lawmakers could introduce abortion legislation that could potentially threaten access to family-building treatments such as IVF.
IVF is part of a family of fertility treatments known as assisted reproductive technology, in which eggs are retrieved from a woman’s ovaries and are combined with sperm in a laboratory. Once fertilized, some develop into embryos that can then be transferred to a woman’s uterus, where if successfully implanted, can result in a pregnancy. However, not all eggs that are retrieved always fertilize normally. This is why during a cycle of IVF, multiple embryos are typically created in order to have a pool of healthy embryos to choose from. Doctors generally implant only one or two embryos in the uterus at once.
Advocacy groups, doctors and legal experts worry that many states are looking to ban abortions starting from conception or when the egg is fertilized, without explicitly making a distinction between fertilization that occurs inside a woman’s uterus vs. in a lab, as is the case with IVF. This could by default restrict or end IVF in some states, they say.
Jody Madeira – the co-director for the Center for Law, Society & Culture at Indiana University’s law school and an expert on IVF and law – explains …
“I think what we’re going to see are a lot more states who say life begins at fertilization, life begins at conception. From the moment of fertilization or conception, that particular embryo, if it doesn’t state otherwise – whether or not conceived in vivo, [meaning] inside the uterus, or ex vivo, [meaning] outside the uterus – is actually a human being. You would specifically have to exempt IVF in order to keep this procedure safe. Legally, doctors will, I think, really pull back if these clarifications are not made.”
(Laura Ramirez-Feldman. “Abortion bans could impact access to IVF after Roe v. Wade overturned, experts say.” https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/abortion-bans-could-impact-access-to-ivf-after-roe-v-wade-overturned-experts-say/ar-AAZk1z9. MSN. July 07, 2022.)
Conclusion
Taking away a woman's right to choose leads to devastating consequences. It is apparent many ultra-conservative Ohio Republicans want to ban all abortions. Their laws threaten IVF labs and their ability to help parents conceive.
Local anti-abortion groups in Illinois have taken on fertility clinics and other medical facilities over discarded or donated embryos left over from the process of in vitro fertilization.
According to a report from The Chicago Tribune, abortion opponents gathered outside a fertility clinic in Naperville in late September 2019 to fight for the future of the frozen embryos that are not used in IVF. The protest was part of the city's annual "Bike for Life" fundraiser.
Some organizations are increasingly tacking the matter as part of the reproductive rights debate. Students for Life of America, a nonprofit whose goal is to mobilize younger generations to abolish abortion, recently issued a statement on the issue of IVF. The group claimed that the medical procedure, while "life-changing for many families," wasn't "perfect."
"A consistent, intellectually-honest stance holds that human life begins at conception/fertilization, which means that destroying embryos is killing human beings at our very earliest phase," the group asserted.
The Personhood Alliance, a group of Christian pro-life organizations who will soon be launching an affiliate branch in Illinois, is also a defender of embryo rights under "equal protection of all human beings."
(Alexandra Hutzler. “Anti-Abortion Groups Take On IVF, Fertility Clinics Over Unused Embryos: 'They Are Still Alive.'” Newsweek. October 08, 2019.)
Is it just fringe groups that believe embryos have rights? This view is more established than many think. For instance, take the Catholic Church – it forbids IVF on the grounds that it's morally unacceptable. (That's also the basis for Personhood bills around the country, which grant rights to fertilized eggs.)
Catholicism takes a pretty strong stance against IVF. The church prohibits any type of conception that takes place outside of “marital union,” which rules out the use of assisted reproductive technology. Another issue is cryopreservation of embryos, which presents numerous moral conundrums for Catholics. The church views embryos as human life, so discarding or donating “leftover” embryos is strictly forbidden. Even freezing embryos for future transfer is frowned upon since not all embryos survive the thaw.
(Jen Jones Donatelli. https://helloflo.com/im-catholic-did-ivf-anyway/#:~:text=Indeed%2C%20Catholicism%20takes%20a%20pretty%20strong%20stance%20against,embryos%2C%20which%20presents%20numerous%20moral%20conundrums%20for%20Catholics.Hello Flo. September 29, 2017.)
Is anti-abortion activism driven by men's “desire to control women”?
I certainly believe some
of this desire for control is undeniable. Many women desperately want to have children and seek medical help to do so. Isn't this their right? And, aren't these procedures gifts from God?
And, one thing I do understand about all of this control is also very ironic: women who undergo IVF are trying to become mothers and, many conservatives believe, fulfilling the role patriarchy wants of them. Miscarriage is usually unwanted; women who have miscarriages are likely trying to have children; they are also fulfilling their proper role under patriarchy.
Wherein lies the path for equality?
I believe we must defend an individual woman's right to choose. The pro-life movement seems to be more about making public declarations of pious conservatism than advocating for life. It is a religious movement: this explains the absence of contraception and sex education from the platform. It is also a politically conservative movement, which values small government more than the souls of unborn children and seeks to do little for them once they are born.
In the (viral) words of Sister Joan Chittister – American Benedictine nun, theologian, author, and speaker who has served as Benedictine prioress and Benedictine federation president, president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, and co-chair of the Global Peace Initiative of Women …
“I do not believe that just because you’re opposed to abortion, that that makes you pro-life. In fact, I think in many cases, your morality is deeply lacking if all you want is a child born but not a child fed, not a child educated, not a child housed. And why would I think that you don’t? Because you don’t want any tax money to go there. That’s not pro-life. That’s pro-birth. We need a much broader conversation on what the morality of pro-life is.”
(Heidi Schlumpf. “Sr. Joan Chittister's 2004 quote on 'pro-life' versus 'pro-birth' goes viral.” National Catholic Reporter. May 23, 2019.)
Anti-abortion activists are "absolutizing" the debate by "allowing no distinctions whatsoever" in laws that have no exceptions for rape or incest, for example, she said.
"It's hard to believe that there is never any medical reason whatsoever – ectopic pregnancies, for instance – that would not indicate that there are some moments when the moral nature of the act at least fits," Chittister said.
Such "absolutizing" seems only to apply to policies that affect women, Chittister said. "I frankly cannot understand why women's health issues or abortion is absolutely the only life issue that the church has not nuanced.”
"We nuance that men can kill for all sorts of reasons. Men can kill to defend themselves. They can kill to defend the state. They can punish by killing in the name of the state," Chittister said. "But women, never – not even to save their own pregnant life. It seems to me to be morally confused. Certainly, it's morally inconsistent."
(Heidi Schlumpf. “Sr. Joan Chittister's 2004 quote on 'pro-life' versus 'pro-birth' goes viral.” National Catholic Reporter. May 23, 2019.)
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