Frozen Embroys worthy of protection
... They left behind two frozen embryos in an in vitro fertilization clinic in Melbourne, Australia. ... [1] Currently there are more than 320 law review articles on the legal controversies surrounding frozen human embryos. [2] Did the frozen embryos have property rights? ... What should be done with the frozen embryos? ... Left frozen indefinitely? ... [4] At the same time, a 1999 Washington Post article reported that hundreds of thousands of human embryos were frozen, suspended in liquid nitrogen tanks (with an estimated 19,000 more frozen embryos to be added each year). ... ” [9] To the argument “You can’t seriously believe a frozen embryo is a human being,” the proper response is, “Both scientifically and theologically we can’t seriously believe a frozen embryo is anything other than a human being. ... ) In 1996 in Great Britain 3,300 frozen embryos were thawed out, destroyed with saline solution, and incinerated as biological waste. [10] A study at two fertility clinics in Manchester, published in The Lancet medical journal, showed 904 of 1344 frozen embryos had been thawed because couples had not requested another five-year extension or donated them to other couples or for research. ... One prolife physician who is a fertility specialist, and works with frozen embryos, wrestled with this issue for years. ... BRAVE FROZEN WORLD: Christine Rhyner Where human life exists the spirit coexists. But what about the estimated one million souls in limbo locked in frozen embryos(1) kept alive by the frozen nitrogen abyss within cryopreservation tanks? Curiously, each frozen embryo possesses all of the genetic material necessary to become an artist or athlete, doctor or writer, politician or evangelist in another generation. ... "(6) In a major embryo custody dispute between a couple in Tennessee, the American Fertility Society attempted to distinguish frozen embryos from actual "persons" by classifying them as "preembryos. ... " Yet it is this deceptive terminology which may in part be responsible for the cavalier disregard of frozen embryos as sub-human, relegating them to the ranks of tissue used in research experiments. When the courts rule that frozen embryos must be donated for these purposes to settle custody disputes, Roberges concern is that some of them can be used for "horrible experiments. ... Because initial (and often subsequent) implantations may fail, some embryos will be implanted, while others will be frozen as back ups for future attempts. ... If we consider that in several recent court cases women have fought to gain custody of their frozen embryos in the hopes of becoming mothers while their former spouses have fought not to become fathers, we see a distinct lack of unity. ... She no longer wished to be implanted with hers and her ex-husbands stored and frozen embryos, but rather wished them to be donated to another couple.