Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Three Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives are seeking answers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) about the lack of oversight of the in vitro fertilization (IVF) industry and the destruction of untold numbers of human embryos through IVF.
The Daily Signal obtained a copy of the April 30 letter to CDC director Mandy Cohen, signed by U.S. Reps. Josh Brecheen (R-OK), Andrew Clyde (R-GA), and Matthew Rosendale (R-MT).
Despite the Declaration of Independence’s affirmation of an unalienable, God-given right to life, the letter begins, “the IVF industry has long operated under the radar of lawmakers in the United States,” not even being required “to be transparent about their participation” in “eugenics or carelessly destroying human life.”
“This carelessness has earned the U.S. the title of the ‘Wild West’ of assisted reproductive technology.”
“Clinics are not required to disclose the total number of embryos they create, how many they store indefinitely, or how many they destroy and for what reasons,” the lawmakers write. “Shockingly, clinics are not even required to disclose statistics on their application of genetic screening, which more than 70% of fertility clinics utilize for sex-selection.”
“Advancing technology raises further concerns that clinics will use genetic screening to choose the ‘best’ embryos based on traits like eye or hair color, complexion, or potential height. In the U.S., this technology is already used to select or discard embryos based on eye color,” they continue.
With those issues in mind, the congressmen called on Cohen to answer a series of questions by the end of the month, asking to know if the CDC keeps track of how many embryos IVF are created annually, how many of them are destroyed annually, how many are currently in storage and for how long, and how many are screened for “sex-selection, genetic abnormalities, or physical attributes such as eye, skin, or hair color,” and how many are destroyed afterward.
The letter also requests the CDC’s recommendations about the number of embryos created per cycle, the treatment and destruction of “excesses,” and the use of genetic screening, as well as whether the agency has any “moral or ethical concerns” about the practices….