INDIANAPOLIS — Southern Baptists on Wednesday voted to oppose the use of in vitro fertilization while also affirming a belief that embryos kept in freezers are “human beings.”
Despite some internal dissent, a resolution condemned the number of embryos produced from the IVF process.
“Estimates suggest that between 1 million and 1.5 million human beings are currently stored in cryogenic freezers in an embryonic state throughout the United States,” the Southern Baptist resolution stated, “with most unquestionably destined for eventual destruction.”
In vitro fertilization entails extracting a women’s eggs, fertilizing them in a laboratory and transferring them into the uterus, Sean Tipton, a spokesperson for the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, said in a phone interview Wednesday. Most methods involve fertilizing multiple eggs, he said, since many are likely to not grow to term, and the greater numbers allow doctors and prospective parents to choose the one in best shape or save eggs for later.
