Utah Republican Party Resolution
In 2011, the Utah Supreme Court set a precedent for the unborn to qualify as a minor. The state’s high court case determined that an unborn child qualifies as a minor child and, therefore, a wrongful death lawsuit may be filed on behalf of those who die before birth. Alabama Supreme Court recently ruled on a similar case for IVF and also established that a life at conception is guaranteed under law. Utah must recognize that life in the womb deserves the same equal protection of the law as every human being.
RESOLUTION TO ABOLISH IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) IN UTAH
WHEREAS, We urge the Utah legislature to enact legislation to abolish in vitro fertilization (IVF) by immediately securing the right to life and equal protection of the laws to all human embryos from the moment of fertilization and to oppose legislation that discriminates against any human embryos at any stage of development and violates the U.S. Constitution by denying such persons the equal protection of the laws.
The reckless creation of and intentional (and unintentional) destruction of human embryos, which are alive at fertilization, are moral evils.
WHEREAS, All embryos in cryogenic storage in IVF laboratories in Utah be maintained by the State until such time as every embryo in said storage can be thawed and implanted by either the couples who paid to create them or by couples that are willing to adopt and implant the embryos as their own children.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, We urge the adoption of this resolution as a Platform Plank and as a Legislative Priority by The Utah Republican Party
More About In Vitro Fertilization
- What Happens in IVF (In Vitro Fertilization):
- Making Embryos for IVF: The process starts when the mature egg is fertilized by the sperm to make an embryo (the very first stage of a baby). At this point life begins. This is where the process is stopped through the freezing the baby.
- Some Embryos Don’t Make It: In the IVF process, most babies do not survive. Some die early on, while the others are frozen for later—though not all survive the freezing and thawing process.
- Choosing Embryos: Only the healthiest embryos are chosen to be placed in the uterus. Even sex based choices, eye color, or other reasons could decide whether they live or die. If there are too many or they are not given a high enough health-grade by the lab, these babies are destroyed.
- A Lot of Embryos are discarded: About 93% of babies at this stage of development made for IVF die, either because they are “discarded” in the lab or don’t survive implantation in the womb.
- What Utah Thinks About It:
- Even though the vast number of IVF babies don’t survive the process, it’s still legal in Utah. In 2011, the Utah Supreme Court after a court wrongful death suit, stated that preborn babies are minors, and therefore have rights as minors —meaning they have human rights. This was again stated recently in an Alabama Supreme Court ruling.
- What God Thinks About IVF:
God is the One who providentially opens and closes the womb (Isaiah 66:9; Genesis 29:31; 30:2, 22; 49:25; 1 Samuel 1:5-6; Psalm 127:3; Jeremiah 1:5), and He says that the solution to infertility is prayer or adoption (1 Samuel 1; Romans 8:15-17; Ephesians 1:3-6; Romans 9:8; Galatians 4:3-7; 1 John 3:1). God also commands that the “marriage bed [should be] undefiled.” (Hebrews 13:4). Any intrusion of another party into to the marriage bed and procreation is defilement—regardless of if that party may be an IVF technician, the sperm of another man, or the egg of another woman.