Washington D.C., Nov 1, 2009 / 16:22 pm
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”.