Letter of Opposition for Embryo Harvesting and Freezing/Genetic Manipulation

Mr. Szafranski is appealing a decision made by the Circuit Court of Cook County in which the court sided with ex-girlfriend Karla Dunston concerning a dispute over the disposition of cryopreserved pre-embryos that were created when Mr. Szafranki donated his sperm and Ms. Dunston donated her ova in light of Ms. Dunston having been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and having been informed that her chemotherapy treatments would likely render her infertile. Mr. Szafranski is asking the Appellate Court to enjoin Ms. Dunston from using those pre-embryos.

In the article “Selecting the Perfect Baby: The Ethics of “Embryo Design,” is an article about a married couple, name Larry and June Shannon. They have a daughter, four years old, name Sally, who is diagnosed with Fanconi Anemia. Therefore, the Shannons are getting help from a research team, to find the perfect bone marrow transplant for Sally. The Shannon couple is also interested in having another child and they are aware of the risks and odds of success. However, a PGD process has to be performed and the couple must undergo an IVF procedure more than once, before the implantation is successful, to be able to produce a healthy full-term baby.

This report describes how ethics involving embryos has been ongoing for 25 years but has significantly increased with the stem cell controversy. Another issue brought up by this report is whether or not federal funds should be spent on an issue that is so ethically

The ethical issues with this procedure are not rooted in the utilization of non-human elements to aid the procreative process. So why the moral fuss over the McNamara's method of growing embryos? The heart of the issue was the potential risk to the child. Animal diseases, either known or unknown, can easily be transmitted to humans through xenotransplantation (the use of live animal cells, tissues and organs for transplantation)[9]. There is the potential, both in xenotransplantation and in the utilization of animals in the procreation process, of placing humans at major risk of contracting new types of infectious diseases[10]. Clearly the McNamara’s view and attitude towards creating their offspring may not have been the most ethical way but they would have done absolutely everything to have the one thing they wanted in this world: a child. Do we have a right to have a child at all costs? It should be obvious that our rights must be limited for the sake of others, especially when our own actions would endanger the lives of others[11]. Are there ethical limits to our good, God-given desire to reproduce? There are limits to all our good desires, precisely because these desires are given by God to be coordinated with one another according to His specific design for human beings. When we add to this the fact that our God-given desires are mingled with sinful desires, selfish impulses, and fallen drives, the need for limits becomes even more apparent[12].

The first child to ever be from using test tube techniques happened in the late 1970’s. Although many have applauded this new type of technology, there is an ethical issue on whether or not embryos should be created in test-tube knowing that fact that many are not implanted and have human development. “Octo-Mom” is a classic case that may have changed many people’s perception when it comes to in-vitro fertilization. Many felt that it was ethically wrong for her doctor to conduct that type of procedure to a woman who will not have the ability to provide adequate care for the well-being of her children who may have health issues.

We are living in a new era where technology can help women have babies in unconventional ways. Having children is a personal choice. In some people’s view, government should not be regulating when people should and should not start having a family. The ethical issue is when the parents start applying for governmental benefits after the baby is conceived via In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and born posthumously. When practicing IVF, are we violating God’s will? This paper is to discuss the views of the four candidates interviewed in relation to posthumous conception and delivery, their views on benefits/inheritance entitlement to these babies, and ethical principles and theories in

Only twenty years ago, embryo freezing (cryopreservation) was considered a technique that raised “disturbing,” “extremely difficult,” “incredibly complex,” and even “nightmarish” ethical issues. Currently, however, at least 41 of the 169 infertility clinics in the United States have begun to implement in vitro fertilization protocols (IVF) (Freemann et al., 1986). The number of frozen embryos in this country nearly tripled, from 289 to 824, between 1985 and 1986 (Van Steirteghem and Van Den Abbel, 1988). An estimated ten infants in the U.S. and sixty in the world were born as of 1988 after having been frozen as embryos. The government and professional advisory groups have endorsed embryo

This proposal is immoral because it violates a central tenet of all civilized codes on human experimentation beginning with the Nuremberg Code: It approves doing deadly harm to a member of the human species solely for the sake of potential benefit to others. The embryos to be destroyed by researchers in this campaign are at the same stage of development as embryos in the womb who have been protected as human subjects in federally funded research since 1975.(4) President Clinton's National Bioethics Advisory Commission (NBAC) and its 1994 predecessor, the NIH Human Embryo Research Panel, conceded that the early human embryo is a form of developing human life that deserves our respect(5). Treating human life as mere research material is no way to show respect.

Nelson & Meyer discusses coming to a compromise on the disposal of the extracorporeal human embryos (EHEs). One should not link the extracorporeal human embryos to the possibility of developing into a real human. As long as the human embryo is outside of the human body, it does not have the potential to develop into a child. Religion can affect a persons’ beliefs and morals to the point where compromise is not possible. It is agreed that disposal should be done respectfully but where and how is the question. Nelson &

An issue that has caused great legal debate is the freezing of eggs and embryos. Freezing allows savings eggs or embryos for later implantation; not all are used. However, frozen embryos and eggs generally have a lower success rate. The question arises of what happens to them if the couple decides to divorce, or one or both of them dies? These situations have been decided through court determinations. In 1987, the status of frozen embryos was brought before the Victorian courts with the case of Mr and Mrs Rios, who had died in a plane crash. The embryos from Mr and Mrs Rios had been frozen in 1981. There were many ethical and moral concerns regarding this case. Should the embryos remain frozen indefinitely, be donated, or kept for research? The Infertility (Medical Procedures) Act

Per Janet Rowley, “there are about 400,000 human embryos in the freezers of in vitro fertilization clinics”, meaning that there are research resources that will eventually be thrown away and wasted due to the shelf life of these frozen embryos. She proceeds to state that these embryos could “benefit patients with incurable diseases”, so every time an embryo reaches its frozen shelf life and is thrown away, so does the possibility of finding a cure for diabetes. Janet Rowley also presents a fact that “Scientists have worked tirelessly to develop useful alternatives”, because there is great concern about which

New technological advances and scientific methods continue to change the course of nature. One of the current controversial advances in science and technology is the use of genetically modified embryos in which the study exceeds stem cell research. Scientists have begun planning for research involving human embryos in the genetic modification field. Many technological developments are responsible for improving our living standards and even saving lives, but often such accomplishments have troubling cultural and moral ramifications (Reagan, 2015). We are already beyond the days in which virtually the only procreative option was for a man and a woman to conceive the old-fashioned way (Reagan, 2015). Genetic modification of human embryos can be perceived as a positive evolution in the medical process yet it is surrounded by controversy due to ethical processes. Because this form of genetic modification could affect later born children and their offspring, the protection of human subjects should be a priority in decisions about whether to proceed with such research (Dresser, 2004). The term Human Genetic Engineering was originally made public in 1970. During this time there were several methods biologists began to devise in order to better identify or isolate clone genes for manipulation in several species or mutating them in humans.

The principles of ethics can assist in finding a middle ground on reproductive technologies by forcing the healthcare provider to consider first the patient and their well-being above all else, yet keeping in consideration the benefits and morality of the care they are giving. More often than not, there are more than two sides to every argument, especially when it comes to the latest reproductive technologies. “To obtain justifiable resolutions of these

To add opposing force, some ethicists believe that the human embryo is the most vulnerable of human beings and that destruction of it should be forbidden. A Lutheran bioethicist proclaims, "the human embryo is the weakest and least advantaged of our fellow human beings," and citing Karl Barth adds, "and no community is `really strong if it will not carry its...weakest members' " (Peters and Bennett 187). There are those who hold a parallel yet contradictory position when it comes to embryonic cells. They do not recognize the

IVF raises many of these difficult moral issues. If the above conceptions about the nature of ethics were correct, however, discussion of these issues would either be futile (because morality is a matter of personal choice or opinion) or superfluous (because morality is what a divine or secular authority says it is) (Walters 23). In this paper, I want to suggest that it is not only possible, but also necessary to inquire into the ethics of such practices as IVF because the fact that we can do something does not mean that we ought to do it.