Bishop Burbidge Writes against a Federal IVF Mandate
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Bishop Michael Burbidge of the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia released a pastoral letter entitled “The Christian Family, In Vitro Fertilization, and Heroic Witness to True Love” (January, 2025). In a relatively short text, it treats in a compassionate but authoritative way the thorny and misunderstood topic of in vitro fertilization (IVF). The serious pastoral concern of Bishop Burbidge is that society, including many Catholics, has largely accepted the practice of IVF. For several years now as many as 2% of babies born in the USA have been conceived using this technique. A nationwide poll in 2024 found that 82% of the general public and 65% of Catholics in America say access to IVF is a good thing. The Magisterium of the Catholic Church has definitively taught that IVF is morally wrong since 1987 with the publication of the “Instruction on Respect for Human Life in Its Origin and on the Dignity of Procreation” or Donum Vitae.
In vitro fertilization was proposed to my wife Marie and I almost relentlessly when we sought to address our problem with infertility. Most medical professionals and the public assume that IVF is the only solution to the growing problem of couples struggling to conceive and bear children. A term used to lump together all the different medical techniques that target infertility is artificial reproductive technologies or ART. Over 90% of ART today ends up being recourse to IVF.
This is a tragedy, as Bishop Burbidge points out, because many in political office have started advocating over the past year that IVF should be encouraged and made even more readily available.
In recent months, some in the public square have advocated a greater role of government in providing IVF as an entitlement, either by means of direct funding or by compelling health insurance companies to do so. In a misguided attempt to respond to challenges surrounding marriage, family formation, falling birth rates, and fertility, elected officials are rushing to support an IVF industry that kills or freezes hundreds of thousands of embryonic children every year and facilitates the exploitative practice of surrogacy. Some even claim that mandating or promoting IVF is pro-life because the process may produce children, but this ignores the moral injustices at the core of the IVF process and the fatal consequences for so many of the embryonic children brought about through that process.
The Church stands in solidarity with all those experiencing infertility and proclaims the dignity of all who come into existence as a result of IVF; however, she stands absolutely opposed to any federal or state governmental action that would involve every citizen with a grave moral injustice.
He states strongly that it would be a major ethical violation to force citizens to support IVF through their taxes. In fact, annually, IVF may end twice as many human lives in the USA than abortion, and there has always been a widespread rejection of taxpayer funding for abortions. The prospect of a “federal IVF mandate” would indeed be a grave threat to human rights and our liberties with government intruding upon the very act of conceiving human persons, as Bishop Burbidge eloquently affirms.
Part III of Donum Vitae observes that laws should completely ban IVF as a gravely unethical practice. If it is not possible in our morally pluralistic society to make it illegal, there is a pressing need to put a stop to the most egregious practices in the IVF industry. Bishop Burbidge points out that IVF in America has been described as the “Wild West” because of the lack of basic health and safety regulations. “Octomom” was an infamous case of a mother who successfully carried eight children after having had twelve embryos transferred to her womb in one procedure. Burbidge goes on to say, “There are virtually no other countries on earth with such a total lack of oversight of this ‘industry’” and the attendant risks to the health and wellbeing of women and the children engendered through IVF.” A key ethical improvement would be providing true informed consent to those considering IVF that would explain the ethical problems associated with it, the medical risks involved for mothers and children, and life-affirming alternatives.
The end of the pastoral letter expresses hope that government will effectively support the formation of American families. Encouragement for marriage and family creation is sorely needed today. Sadly, the federal government instead mainly subsidizes contraceptives and even at times sterilization. Burbidge points out that “American law effectively discourages fertility and its procreative consequences. It is simply wrong that federal healthcare policy socializes the cost of sterility while privatizing the basic costs of pregnancy and childbirth or the cost of restorative fertility treatments for conditions like endometriosis.” After the pastoral letter, there are links to resources available for life-affirming and ethical restorative reproductive medicine groups and related topics. Hopefully, this contribution from Bishop Burbidge will help many people, especially political leaders in Washington, to understand the Church’s teaching on the true nature of IVF as well as the excellent alternatives that exist to help couples suffering from infertility.
Joseph Meaney received his PhD in bioethics from the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome. His doctoral program was founded by the late Elio Cardinal Sgreccia and linked to the medical school and Gemelli teaching hospital. His dissertation topic was Conscience and Health Care: A Bioethical Analysis. Dr. Meaney earned his master’s in Latin American studies, focusing on health care in Guatemala, from the University of Texas at Austin. He graduated from the University of Dallas with a BA in history and a concentration in international studies. The Benedict XVI Catholic University in Trujillo, Peru, awarded Dr. Meaney an honorary visiting professorship. The University of Dallas bestowed on him an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters in 2022.