Southern Baptists Vote to Oppose IVF

TThe Southern Baptist Convention signaled its disapproval of in vitro fertilization (IVF) in a vote on Wednesday, calling on the “government to restrict” the procedure.

The vote took place during the church’s two-day annual meeting, where delegates also voted on a new president and on whether women should be able to hold pastoral positions (the latter also failed to gain support).

In February, Alabama hospitals halted IVF treatments after the state Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are considered children under Alabama state law. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have signaled support for passing legal protections for in vitro fertilization, though many Republicans were more tepid in their statements following the court ruling.

Now, Democrats are considering voting on legislation that would provide the right to assisted reproductive technology, such as in vitro fertilization, by Axios. The vote would pressure Republican lawmakers to reconcile their pro-life positions with possible support for the procedure in a post-Roe world. Seventy percent of Americans say they support access to in vitro fertilization – with broader support for the practice even registering among religious groups, according to the Pew Research Center.

see more information: Lawmakers from both parties call for IVF protection after Alabama ruling

In vitro fertilization is a medical procedure that people with fertility problems undergo to facilitate pregnancy. During the process, an egg is removed from the woman’s ovaries and fertilized with sperm in the laboratory. The fertilized egg is then known as an embryo and is implanted back into a person’s uterus, according to the National Health Service (NHS).

Southern Baptists believe that personality begins at the time of conception. Following the Alabama court ruling, Southern Baptists said they opposed “the intentional destruction or even donation for scientific experimentation of unimplanted human embryos, created wantonly in the typical in vitro fertilization process” in a May 2024 press release.

The church has multiple complaints with the procedure, including the “over-fertilization of eggs without a clear implantation plan, freezing of remaining embryos, and even the destruction of these human embryos when a couple manages to get pregnant or no longer wishes to keep them.” church says the destruction of fertilized embryos is similar to an abortion procedure.

Southern Baptists have also said the practice removes the act of procreation from the “sexual union” between a couple.

Wednesday’s vote does not create a binding resolution within the Southern Baptist Church, but it does declare that in vitro fertilization “most often participates in the destruction of embryonic human life.”

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