This past Sunday, the readings for the Mass featured the story of creation and the role of man and woman in God’s plan. The first reading, from the second chapter of the Book of Genesis, occurs after the creation of the first man, Adam. God states that “It is not good for the man to be alone.” And so, Genesis tells us that God made other living animals. But still, we are told, “none proved to be a helper suited to the man.”
This comment underscores the nature and dignity of human beings in creation. The gift of life given to every human person has similarities shared with the life of other created creatures. But it is distinct and transcendent over the rest of creation because every human being is made in the image and likeness of God with the calling to join eternally in the very life of God.
The creation story in Genesis goes on to state God then created the first woman who was received by the man with joy as he stated, “This one, at last, is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh.” His words underscore the Christian emphasis on the equal dignity of man and woman.
They emphasize as well, the complementarity of male and female, of man and woman. Each is meant to contribute to and find fulfillment in the other. For that reason, Genesis goes on to say, “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.”
In the Gospel, Jesus cites these last words and tells His followers that the union of man and woman is the basis of marriage. Further, that union is intended by God to be permanent and irrevocable.
The Book of Genesis also records that after making the first man and woman, God gave them the command to “Be fertile and multiply.” From the marital union of man and woman is to come the continuance of the human race, with more human beings bearing the dignity of being in God’s image and likeness.
The link between the union of man and woman and the gift of children is felt deeply by married couples. The desire for children is expressed by many, and the gift of offspring can further deepen the marital union. At the same time, couples who experience infertility often feel a great sense of frustration and loss.
As a Church we need to be supportive and prayerfully accompany those spouses who seek children but are unable to conceive. There are various medical techniques which can help increase the possibility of conception while respecting the profound humanizing importance of children as the fruit of the conjugal act specific to the love between spouses.
Not all medical techniques for fertility are morally grounded in the dignity of human nature. In vitro fertilization, IVF, for example, has once again been in the news of late. It has also been announced that in the upcoming election on Nov. 5 in Illinois, an advisory question will be on the ballot asking if IVF should be covered by any health insurance plan in Illinois that provides coverage for pregnancy benefits.
The IVF process involves the creation of embryos by medical techniques that are separate from the intimate procreative act of man and woman in marriage. Essentially, multiple embryos are created in a laboratory and then placed in the womb of the woman. In so doing, the human and spiritual union of the man and woman in creation is bypassed.
Further, as the Illinois Catholic Conference, the government lobbying arm of the Illinois Catholic Bishops states, “Those embryos not chosen for implantation are either frozen, used for experimentation, or terminated. IVF also opens the door to surrogacy and donation of eggs and sperm, further removing the gift of procreation from the marital act.”
We live in a society that, even if unintentionally, increasingly accepts dehumanized solutions to challenges. The elimination of the intimate moral act flowing from creation itself, and the creation of multiple embryos, many of which will be indefinitely preserved by freezing or simply destroyed, violates our shared human dignity.
For these very good reasons, when we vote in the coming election, we should oppose the advisory question.
