{"id":14211,"date":"2013-06-12T19:24:01","date_gmt":"2013-06-12T23:24:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/?p=14211"},"modified":"2013-06-12T19:24:01","modified_gmt":"2013-06-12T23:24:01","slug":"soylent-green-is-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/2013\/06\/soylent-green-is-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Soylent Green is People!"},"content":{"rendered":"

There was a good deal of coverage regarding the recent case of a court awarding a women with SSA $170,000 after she was fired from a Catholic school for using IVF<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The case gained attention partly because opposition to IVF has remained largely a Catholic distinctive. While supposedly the U.S. has become more pro-life in regards to abortion, there has not been the same followthrough in regards to opposition to IVF. The poison of the support of contraception within most of Protestantism led also to IVF hardly being controversial.<\/p>\n

I am reminded of this because of Rebecca Taylor\u2019s recent story on New IVF Embryo Quality Control<\/a><\/p>\n

In manufacturing, quality control (QC) is very important. A manufacturer always wants to put out the best product and eliminate defective merchandise.<\/p>\n

The same is true of IVF. With as many as 30 embryos created for every live birth, doctors are always on the look out for ways to separate the robust embryos from the \u201cdefective\u201d ones to improve their success rates. Previously this was achieved by preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD.) In PGD, a single cell is removed from the days old embryo and tested for genetic anomalies. The ones that pass the test get a chance at being transferred to their mother\u2019s womb. The others\u2026well they are defective so no need to mention what happens to them, right?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The idea of \u201c30 embryos created for every live birth\u201d is so hard to fathom as something that happens. There is a mighty corruption at work that can transform the natural desire to have a child to allow the sacrifice of 29 siblings for that one child. The idea of life being from conception seems to get lost on people that might be otherwise pro-life when it comes to IVF. Part of this is from the push to make implantation the start of life instead.<\/p>\n

I am reminded of the 1973 movie \u201cSoylent Green\u201d where the Policeman played by Charleston Heston wants to spread that word about the food source \u201cSoylent Green\u201d, that \u201cSoylent Green is people!\u201d<\/p>\n

Well in this case I want to spread the word that \u201cEmbryos are people!\u201d There is an attempt to take a word for a stage of life regarding the human person and to use the term to dehumanize. The false dichotomy between embryo and human person or the same regarding the word fetus.<\/p>\n

Embryos are people!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Getting back to the article<\/a>:<\/p>\n

You may think I am being harsh comparing this new technique to manufacturing QC. That is until you read this comment by the chair of the British Fertility Society:<\/p>\n

Allan Pacey, lecturer in andrology at Sheffield University and chair of the British Fertility Society, said: \u201cThis paper is interesting because we really do need to make advances in selecting the best embryos created during IVF.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Mass produce, screen the product, choose the best and cull the rest. Above all, NEVER mention that these are actual human beings.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As a side-note, I would avoid the book Soylent Green was based on, \u201cMake room, Make Room\u201d by the recently deceased Harry Harrison. It was motivated by the doom and gloom of the late 1960\u2019s and the chicken little-ing regarding the \u201cPopulation Bomb\u201d with some anti-Catholicism thrown in. I actually liked the movie much more. It was campy, but added the whole Soylent Green plot and unlike the book did not end in a total lack of hope.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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