(LifeSiteNews) — Jonathon’s guest on The Van Maren Show this week is Stephanie Gray Connors, a pro-life speaker and author.
Connors’ latest book, Conceived by Science: Thinking Carefully and Compassionately About Infertility and IVF, includes various arguments that present the case against in-vitro fertilization (IVF), with a sensitivity and compassion for couples who struggle to conceive.
Her book, the subject of today’s discussion, is also written in a way that appeals to all Christians — Catholics and Protestants alike — as well as those who aren’t religious. Both Stephanie and Jonathon agree that IVF is a sincere pro-life issue that many Protestants and non-religious folks dismiss as a uniquely Catholic hang-up.
“I think if we get back to the Christian understanding of marriage, of sexuality, and of how God intended image bearers to come into existence, then we should all across denominations be able to hold hands and be united on this issue and say, ‘Yeah, this doesn’t line up with the way God designed things,’” Connors said.
The pro-life speaker wishes to emphasize that criticizing an artificial method of conception doesn’t mean thinking a person conceived through that method is somehow a lesser human being, or that a couple’s difficulty in conceiving a child doesn’t mean they can’t seek to overcome it.
“One of the key principles that I talked about in my book is ‘the end doesn’t justify the means.’ So the good end of having a child does not justify every single method of getting there,” Connors said. “The most obvious one would be kidnapping. If someone really wants a baby, they could break into someone’s home and steal a child and raise the child as their own. Their desire for a child is good, but the means to get that child — kidnapping — everyone agrees is wrong.”
“And so what I try to present in my book is this idea of ‘OK, the desire for the child is good, but is the means of IVF morally problematic?’”
Jonathon and Stephanie discuss plenty more on the topic, so listen to their discussion below. And if you are interested in reading Conceived by Science, click here to purchase it.
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