A repugnant new test could screen out IVF embryos with lesser intelligence

Babies could be chosen based on genetic indications of intelligence. Company also expects parents to chose babies of higher intelligence By SPUC—the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children Genetic tests have long made it possible to screen out embryos with conditions such as cystic fibrosis or Down’s syndrome. Now, a new way of testing …

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Louisiana Judge tosses out suit to implant frozen embryos, cites lack of legal jurisdiction

By Dave Andrusko When actress Sofia Vergara and Nick Loeb were a couple in 2013, they used IVF to create two embryos who were frozen. “The couple at the time signed a contract at the ART Reproductive Center in Beverly Hills that stated neither could use the embryos without the other’s consent,” the New York …

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Turning “surplus” embryos into jewelry is “sacred art”

By Dave Andrusko A friend passed this news story along to me this morning and even though it takes an awfully lot to surprise me, this left me gaping. There is a company in Australia that is making couples leap for joy, according to Lisa Mayoh, couples such as Belinda and Shaun Stafford who created …

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Couple sues for malpractice after IVF doctor aborts “strangers’ embryos” mistakenly implanted in woman

By Dave Andrusko David and Melissa Pineda have filed a malpractice suit against Dr. Rifaat Salem, alleging that he used two different techniques to abort when Dr. Salem discovered he had mistakenly implanted “strangers’ embryos” in Mrs. Pineda. “We went there to have a baby, not to kill a baby,” Mrs. Pineda said. The Pinedas …

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Just a Clump of Cells?

  By Ben Williamson It’s well-established, as a scientific matter, that preborn embryos and fetuses are living human organisms. Nevertheless, many abortion advocates claim that the human embryo is not really a human being, but is merely a clump of cells, no more valuable than any somatic (body) cell in a human’s body. For instance, …

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The cost of “progress”

By Dave Andrusko Rarely would you get a headline that more accurately captures both the core of the story and the ethical implications. “The Boy Who Lived: Embryo testing is progress built on failure, termination, and tragedy. But we only hear about the happy endings.” Written by Slate’s William Saletan, the piece is a sobering …

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“We’re all just grown-up embryos”

By Megan McCrum, Academy Program Director This week the National Right to Life Academy enjoyed guest lectures by Dr. David Prentice, Senior Fellow for Life Sciences at the Family Research Council. Dr. Prentice refuted the misplaced hype surrounding embryo-destructive stem cell research and shared with the students the real (and numerous) success stories of treatments …

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