The Pro-Life Action League has joined a local effort in Naperville, Illinois, to prevent the opening of an in vitro fertilization (IVF) clinic in the central business district.
The effort is being spearheaded by a group from Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church, situated only a few blocks from the proposed building site, who object to the unethical nature of IVF.
The League joins them in opposing IVF for such practices as:
- Treating human beings in the earliest days of life as objects rather than as ends in themselves, which cannot justly be put to the service of another,
- Exploiting the desperation of infertile couples with an expensive, unethical and often unsuccessful procedure
- Exploiting poor young women as “egg donors” without adequately informing them of the risks or the ethical problems involved
- Screening out and discarding human embryos deemed “unfit,” and
- Freezing and storing human embryos indefinitely.
Naperville City Council Considers IVF Clinic Approval
A group of citizens spoke out against the clinic at a March 20 Naperville City Council meeting, addressing both the ethical problems of IVF and a whole host of zoning problems associated with the plan.
One of those speaking was the League’s Matt Yonke, who warned that if the project is approved, that will mean pro-life protests in the city’s posh downtown. The League is well known in the area for the demonstrations against the Planned Parenthood facility in neighboring Aurora.
The Council, which had been expected to green light the project, instead decided to allow further public comment, and postponed their vote.
Decision Coming This Tuesday?
The Council will take up the issue again at their Tuesday, April 3 meeting, which begins at 7:00 p.m. Statements are expected from patients of Dr. Randy Morris, the practitioner hoping to open up the clinic, as well as from citizens opposed to it.
I am among those slated to speak, and will remind the Council that, out of respect for the dignity of the human beings discarded by the process of IVF, I intend to bring public protest to downtown Naperville if the clinic is approved.
