What Happens When Abortion, Right to Life, and Infertility Rights Get Mixed Together
What Happens When Abortion, Right to Life, and Infertility Rights Get Mixed Together
Georgia is considering legislation that may severely restrict reproductive rights of families. While Nadya Suleman and her octuplets are being used as the excuse behind these new laws, things are not always what they appear.
I wrote a bit on this a couple weeks ago, specifically on how they were considering limiting the number of embryos being transferred per IVF cycle. However, it turns out the new legislation seeks to restrict much more than that.
What else does the proposed bill say?
Even if more than two to three eggs are retrieved during an IVF cycle, only two to three can be fertilized.
No extra embryos can be frozen, or cryoperserved. If they are created, they must be transferred.
Women and men may not be financially compensated for egg, sperm, or embryo donations.
These restrictions, to the uneducated, may appear reasonable. They might look like a good way to deal with the current question of what to do with "left over" frozen embryos, and may seem like a good way to prevent high-order multiple births.
However, these restrictions will hurt so much more than they will help, and they are unlikely to reduce the risk of high-order multiples.
Why These Restrictions Don't Make Sense
If IVF treatment worked perfectly, these restrictions might make sense. (And if Georgia intended to help pay for the additional cycles which will be needed for success. Oh, and they don't intend to help pay.)
But, unfortunately, a woman can have 8 eggs retrieved, all of them put together with sperm, and only get two to three fertilized eggs back. If legislation were to restrict the potential fertilization to just two or three eggs, chances are high that the couple will have no embryos to transfer at all.
This means another treatment cycle, subjecting her body to harsh medications and procedures all over again -- and for what purpose?
Speaking of subjecting a woman to further treatments, not allowing a couple to freeze embryos is another mistake. A frozen embryo transfer, or FET, allows a couple to try again another cycle, without having to go through the fertility drugs and invasive egg retrieval all over again.
Not allowing a couple to freeze extra embryos will deny them this right to try again. Instead, they will have to go through all the drugs and medical procedures each cycle, putting their health at risk for no reason at all. It's also more costly.
Unanswered Questions
Plus, there are others questions. Like, what about a woman diagnosed with cancer, looking to preserve her fertility? Egg freezing is relatively new, but embryo freezing has a better track record. If this legislation passes, will women with cancer looking to preserve their fertility not be permitted to freeze embryos for post-cancer treatment use?
And will she have to go through multiple IVF treatment cycles, in order to keep the law of only fertilizing two to three eggs at a time? Further treatments which could delay cancer treatment, putting her very life at risk?
And, what about a woman who may get pregnant with just one embryo being transferred? Let's say that she has two to three embryos fertilized, but the doctor thinks her chances of getting pregnant are good with just one. Will this law force her to have the other two embryos transferred? Putting her at risk for getting pregnant with twins or triplets? Instead of being able to freeze the extra embryos, allowing her to try again if the cycle fails?
What about a couple who needs preimplantation genetic diagnosis? This is when a fertilized egg, or embryo, is checked for genetic disorders before being transferred to the uterus. It's used commonly with couples dealing with recurrent miscarriages.
According to the wording of this new law, even the embryos which show genetic irregularities will have to be transferred, meaning that the woman will have an increased risk of miscarriage. Why should she suffer another miscarriage? Who does that protect? Not the mother, her health, or taxpayer money. (Not that taxpayers should come before anyone's health.)
Another question -- what about a woman who develops a severe case of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome? Sometimes, the doctor will delay transfer of the embryos until after she gets her period, to lower the risk to her health. In severe cases, this may save her life.
What happens to those embryos that are fertilized, according to this new law? The choices are either to freeze them, which this law would make illegal, or transfer them anyway, with complete disregard to the mother's health. How does that make sense?
These are only a few questions raised -- you could write a small book on the questions and problems this new legislation brings up.
The Truth About Multiple Births
If Georgia lawmakers pass these laws, they will be lowering the chances for infertile couples to get pregnant through IVF treatment. They will also, ironically, be increasing the chances of high-risk multiple pregnancies.
Why? Because those who will no longer be able to afford IVF may turn to IUI treatment or fertility drugs. The risk of multiples is much higher in these treatments, compared to IVF where the number of fertilized embryos can be restricted and monitored by the doctor.
Those behind the bill say this is about lowering the risk of Georgia having a Nadya Suleman of their own, but in fact, they are increasing the chances -- just instead of the multiple births coming from IVF, they will come from IUI treatment.
But don't expect to see restrictions placed on IUI treatment. Why? Because IUI treatment does not bring up any religious or ethical issues regarding the "life" status of embryos. The organization backing this new legislation is a group known as "Georgia Right to Life", and the bill was originally named "The Ethical Treatment of Human Embryos Act."
This isn't about saving Georgia taxpayers money, or preventing multiple births. This isn't about Nadya Suleman, though she's being used to fuel emotions behind backing the bill.
This is about the big "when does life begin" question and about finding a back-door to banning abortion. Who's going to pay for this agenda? Infertile couples in Georgia, who will pay with their wallets, their health, and their chances of having a biological child.
What are your thoughts on this sensitive issue? Please share in the comment section below. I want to hear from you!
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