U.S. bishops to debate document on ethics of reproductive technology
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Washington D.C., Nov 1, 2009 / 06:22 pm (CNA).- The U.S. bishops’ proposed document on the relationship between sex and procreation and the moral issues concerning infertility treatments will be debated and voted on by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) at their fall assembly in Baltimore.

The draft of the document, “Life-Giving Love in an Age of Technology,” expresses the Church’s compassion to couples suffering from infertility but rejects some “reproductive technologies” as non-legitimate solutions to such problems.

“We bishops of the United States offer this reflection to explain why. We also offer it to provide hope—real hope that couples can fulfill their procreative potential and build a family while fully respecting God’s design for their marriage and for the gift of children,” the draft reads, according to the USCCB.

The document reportedly draws on church teaching such as Pope John Paul II’s 1995 encyclical “Evangelium Vitae” and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith instructions “Donum Vitae” and “Dignitas Personae”.

The draft includes questions and answers on the topic, testimony from couples who followed the Church’s teaching, and pastoral guidance and encouragement for couples struggling with infertility.

Catholic teaching against in vitro fertilization, egg and sperm donation, surrogacy, cloning and embryo teaching are reaffirmed in the document, the USCCB says. The document also discusses ethical treatments such as hormonal medications, surgery to repair damaged fallopian tubes, natural family planning, and male infertility alleviation.

“These avenues do not substitute for the married couple’s act of loving union; rather, they assist this act in reaching its potential for giving rise to a new human life,” the draft reads.

The document was prepared by the Pro-Life Committee as a companion to the 2007 USCCB document “Married Love and the Gift of Life.” It will require the approval of two-thirds of the membership of the USCCB.

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Subscriber comments:
Published by: DLL
scituate Mass. USA 11/02/2009 12:57 PM EST
I must just be old fashioned! Love and union between a man and a woman in Holy Marriage,to make a Holy life together in devotion to one another,for the Glory Of God,is the great life that our Creator designed for many of us in this world. If a Woman is barren than adopt a child. I am glad that the Church is willing to guide all Catholics in these matters of extraordinary technology for the purpose of conceiving children. This is not the Church trying to get in the way of couples, it is a matter of the whole Church,as they must be of one mind in Christ in all these matters. Moral issues matter,as it is our sense of the Holy Spirit working in each of us,so that God is always a source of the perfect prayer that is a perfect sense of our very own sense of a peace of mind. Humankind is a manipulative consuming creature and very cleaver at all this. Only God creates and always with a purpose,because God is what humankind is just trying to learn,that is that God Is Love! Love and sex are Holy and of God!
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