Southern Baptists voted Wednesday at their annual meeting in Indianapolis to officially oppose the use of in vitro fertilization (IVF).
The new resolution called upon Southern Baptists, the country’s largest Protestant denomination, “to reaffirm the unconditional value and right to life of every human being, including those in an embryonic stage, and to only utilize reproductive technologies consistent with that affirmation, especially in the number of embryos generated in the I.V.F. process.”
One of the most powerful politicians in America, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), is a Southern Baptist. He has not shied away from talking about his faith guiding him at work in Washington, D.C. When he took over the Speakership after Kevin McCarthy was ousted, Johnson said: “Only God saw the path through the roiling sea.”
When the Alabama Supreme Court in February ruled against the use of IVF — it referred to frozen embryos as “human beings” implying those who destroy them could be held liable for wrongful death — Johnson said he didn’t believe Congress “should play a role here.”
He echoed Donald Trump’s response to abortion rights and said, “I think this is being handled by the states.”
Note: Johnson and 129 other Republicans co-sponsored a Life at Conception bill in 2023 which “declares that the right to life guaranteed by the Constitution is vested in each human being at all stages of life, including the moment of fertilization, cloning, or other moment at which an individual comes into being.”
When asked if he saw the disposal of embryos during the IVF process as murder, Johnson didn’t provide a binary answer. He said: “It’s something we have to grapple with.”
Johnson added, “We support the sanctity of life, of course, and we support IVF, and the full access to it.” He added, presumably talking on behalf of his wife, “We know lots of families, friends of ours, who have beautiful families because of that…It’s something every state has to wrestle with.”
Federal legislation to secure and protect access to IVF treatment has been presented more than once by Democratic Senators including Patty Murray, Tammy Duckworth (whose two children were conceived by IVF), but as Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) complained, “Republicans blocked it.”
In March, Duckworth said: “Not a single one of these ‘IVF-loving’ Republicans have come forward to cosponsor my bill to protect IVF nationwide.”
Not a single one of these “IVF-loving” Republicans have come forward to cosponsor my bill to protect IVF nationwide. pic.twitter.com/cFaYsnhVF6
— Tammy Duckworth (@SenDuckworth) March 21, 2024
She added: “They can’t have it both ways. You can’t say a fertilized egg is a human being with more rights than a woman, or at least equal rights.” She added: “The nature of IVF is that there are going to be nonviable fertilized eggs that must be discarded.”