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Reproductive BioEthical Jigsaws, Part 1by William E. Cripe, Sr. Bill Cripe is senior pastor at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Waterville, Maine. He maintains ASCP certification as a registered medical technologist and has been AIIA’s Resource Associate for Social and Ethical Issues since April, 2000. EDITOR’S NOTE: From July 14-16, 2005, Mr. Cripe attended an international conference on Genetic and Reproductive Ethics near Chicago IL. The conference was sponsored by CBHD, i.e. Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity. Pastor Cripe then agreed to author this two-issue Proclamation response to ten tough reproductive bioethical questions, confident that his information and perspective were up-to-date, accurate, and guided by the counsel of the experts at CBHD. He described the CBHD team as “scientific geniuses who are doing the research so widely touted in the media, and all God-fearing believers in the Savior of the Bible.” Mr. Cripe went on to say that: ‘O…to the person, at CBHD the primary caveat in any ethical consideration is that the result of conception, i.e. the union of an egg and sperm, is an embryonic human, a life. Because an embryo is a fully human life, CBHD’s guiding principle in bioethics concerning research on embryos is: ‘Unless the benefit to the embryo is greater than the risk [any process which intentionally compromises that life], the research or the procedure is ethically unacceptable.'” Is artificial insemination from a donor spouse wrong? A.I. from a donor spouse is merely the insertion of a husband’s sperm into his wife’s vagina through some other means than the hallowed sexual union. In the grand scheme of God’s wondrous plan for humanity, His intention for the family remains intact in this case. This is merely a medically-assisted process with the God-ordained parties providing the necessary ingredients (egg and sperm) for life. So if your conscience permits artificial insemination at all, this procedure probably need pose no serious moral dilemma. Is artificial insemination from an anonymous donor wrong? Is in-vitro fertilization morally wrong? What about freezing and storing sperm and eggs? Is fertility assistance wrong? Coming April 21, 2006! |