The Pro-Life Secretariat of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has applauded Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) for co-sponsoring a congressional briefing on the risks egg harvesting poses to women's health and safety. Their briefing is titled “Trading on the Female Body”.

Deirdre McQuade of the Pro-Life Secretariat said the briefing is “timely in light of renewed efforts in Congress to fund destructive embryonic stem cell research.”

"If a treatment for a major disease ever were to arise from this approach, it would require moving beyond the so-called 'spare' embryos frozen in IVF (in vitro fertilization) clinics, to creating huge numbers of embryos (by IVF or cloning) solely for medical research,” warned McQuade.

“That means treating a great many women as egg factories, at great risk to their health and safety,” she added. Minority and impoverished women would be particularly vulnerable to exploitation, she warned.