Kelly and Eric Romenesko and the Roman Catholic Church agree that childbirth is a gift of life.
A disagreement between the couple and the church, however, over the morality of in-vitro fertilization has cost Kelly Romenesko her job with the ACES/Xavier school system and the Catholic church a lifelong member.
The Romeneskos, of Buchanan, tried unsuccessfully for five years to start a family before they turned to in-vitro fertilization.
When Kelly, then a French teacher for ACES/Xavier, the system that runs Appleton's seven Catholic schools, told her boss in September 2004 she might need time off to undergo the procedure, she expected no problems. Though she was a lifelong Catholic, she had no idea the church opposes in-vitro fertilization.
The church's position is spelled out in "Donum Vitae," a 1987 church instruction on "respect for human life in its origin and the dignity of procreation." The document — Latin for "Gift of Life" — was written by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI.
It teaches that in-vitro fertilization is immoral. By employing medical technology to commingle her eggs with her husband's sperm, Romenesko had violated two clauses in her teaching contract: to uphold the teachings of the Catholic Church, and to act and teach in accordance with Catholic doctrine and the church's moral and social teachings.
The church, which teaches that life begins at conception, objects to the procedure on several grounds. First, destroying leftover embryos is tantamount to abortion in the eyes of the church, as is "selective reduction" — the elimination of some implanted embryos to avert multiple pregnancies.
Secondly, it usually requires male masturbation to harvest sperm, which the church holds immoral.
Finally, according to the Donum Vitae, "The act which brings the child into existence is no longer an act by which two persons give themselves to one another, but one that entrusts the life and identity of the embryo into the power of doctors and biologists and establishes the domination of technology over the origin and destiny of the human person."
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4 comments:
It's not a popular opinion, but the more I study the topic, the more I agree that In-vitro is not something Christians should do.
I agree that in-vitro is not something Christians should do either, but yesterday when I listened to WORD on the way home from work, they seemed to feel that this was the belief of the Catholic Church and not other Christians.
I (a Baptist) have to agree with ~Mark and Anon. In-Vitro is bad news. Sure, it may result in life, but how many people have to die in order for someone else to live?
Also, as someone who was adopted, I can say with authority that there are other ways to have a child rather than resort to something like In-Vitro.
And that Catholic school was well within their rights to fire that woman for having it done.
Kelly Romenesko says she had no idea the Catholic Church is opposed to in-vitro fertilization. Well that shows you how serious she was about her faith! Pretty dumb of her to ask for time off to do that. She could have been quiet about it.
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