Aug
28
As well as something that never even occurred to me – at first…
Wendy Norris is liveblogging a talk at The Big Tent today about Amendment 48. It’s really interesting stuff, if a little (well, now, maybe not just a little) scary.
I know that there is the strong possibility that women (like me) who have experienced multiple miscarriages could be subject to criminal investigations if this becomes law. However, I never even thought of this:
Dr. Ruben Alvero, an OB-GYN and expert in infertility, speaks to the suffering that infertile couples experience with the many indignities of medical treatments to become pregnancy.
130,000 IVF treatments took place in the U.S. last year. He discusses the far-reaching affects of the Colorado ballot measure that would prevent infertile couples from getting assistance to start their families.
“It’s bad medicine and bad science and goes too far,” said Alvero.
What exactly would happen to the unused, fertilized zygotes after an IVF procedure? Would potential parents be compelled to have their zygotes adopted by another couple, possibly without their knowledge? This really scares me, even more than what could happen to me personally if the amendment becomes law. If reactionaries – I won’t dignify them with the term “conservatives” any longer, thank you, because that’s not what they are – insist that all life is sacred, how about helping to create life when it would otherwise be impossible?
Thank you for your opposition to Amendment 48!
You might be interested to read an issue paper just published by the Coalition for Secular Government (http://www.seculargovernment.us): “Amendment 48 Is Anti-Life: Why It Matters That a Fertilized Egg Is Not a Person” by Ari Armstrong and myself. It’s available at:
http://www.seculargovernment.us/docs/a48.pdf
We discuss some of the serious implications of this proposed amendment, including its effects on the legality of abortion, birth control, medical research, and in vitro fertilization. And we offer a strong defense of abortion rights based on the biological facts of pregnancy.
Um, I think you already posted this link a day or two ago. This time it wound up in my Akismet folder, and the next time I’ll leave it there.