A federal mandate around in vitro fertilization (IVF) would be dangerous, cautioned Catholic Bishop Michael Burbidge in a new letter released Wednesday.
Burbidge, who oversees Virginia’s Arlington diocese just across the river from Washington, D.C., did not mention President Donald Trump by name, but he warned against Trump’s recent support for the assisted reproductive technology.
IVF is a procedure used by couples with infertility where embryos are created in a medical lab setting, and then an attempt is made to manually implant the embryo into a woman’s uterus to kickstart a pregnancy.
The Catholic Church opposes IVF because of the ethical concerns around the many additional embryos who are created but do not survive the process or are frozen indefinitely and also because IVF separates the procreative act from conception.
“In recent months, some in the public square have…
