The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that, although “research that attempts to reduce human sterility should be encouraged,” practices such as IVF “dissociate the sexual act from the procreative act” and entrust “the life and identity of the embryo to the power of doctors and biologists, and “It establishes a mastery of technology over the origin and destiny of the human person.”
“Such a relationship of dominance,” the Catechism explains, “is in itself contrary to the dignity and equality that should be common to parents and children.”
John Grabowski, professor of Moral Theology and Ethics at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., told CNA that the issue is “interconnected” with abortion, because “IVF generally results in the creation of ‘spare embryos,’ many of which are frozen, discarded or destroyed through embryonic stem cell research.
In dialogue with EWTN News In Depth On February 23, Dr. Joseph Meaney, president of the National Catholic Bioethics Center in the United States, said the Alabama ruling clearly reflects the reality of unborn human life.