Southern Baptist Convention votes to oppose IVF

Thousands of Southern Baptists voted to oppose the use of in vitro fertilization (IVF) during a national convention Wednesday.

Attendees at the Southern Baptist Convention voted to approve a resolution “On the Ethical Realities of Reproductive Technologies and the Dignity of the Human Embryo” Wednesday afternoon after hearing from many people about their own experiences with IVF. The vote signals opposition to the procedure among many Southern Baptists but is not an enforceable statement.

The resolution called on Southern Baptists “to reaffirm the unconditional value and right to life of every human being, including those in an embryonic stage, and to only utilize reproductive technologies consistent with that affirmation especially in the number of embryos generated in the IVF process.”

The resolution also said that IVF “increasingly engages in dehumanizing methods for determining suitability for life and genetic sorting.”

Several delegates, called “messengers,” spoke about their personal connections to IVF, which has become a highly debated topic in recent months. A last-minute amendment suggested that IVF is supported in some circumstances, but that failed.

Zach Sahadak, who is a member of a church in Ohio, said that his son was born through IVF and that his wife is now pregnant again by using the procedure.

“I have 10 embryos that I love and with every bit of my being we will have or see born into a Christian family and no one can stop us from making that disposition. I am for the sanctity of life and for the sanctity of embryos,” he said, according to a livestream of the event.

“I am against the idea that this technology is so wicked that it cannot be employed,” he added. 

The Senate is slated to vote Thursday on legislation for IVF protections that was introduced by a trio of Democrats. Senate Democrats blocked Republicans’ competing legislation on the issue Wednesday.