Does In Vitro Fertilization hurt?

Is it true that Paul Ryan sponsored legislation that would ban in vitro fertilization? Did the Romney campaign have a position on this topic?

• As of 8/11/12, numerous news articles assert that the "Sanctity of Human Life Act" (http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/hr212/text), co-sponsored by , would ban in vitro fertilization. See, e.g: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/08/11/paul-ryan-s-extreme-abortion-views.html Also see (The short answer is yes.)

• Answer:

  As RR week 1 unfolded, my questions were answered elsewhere on the Internet: Yes, it is broadly believed that the "Sanctity of Human Life Act" would ban IVF as currently practiced, plus common forms of birth control such as the IUD, which prevent implantation for not fertilization. Although the Romney campaign may not have an official policy on IVF, at least four of the Romney grandchildren (children of three of Romney's sons) were conceived via IVF and carried to term by surrogates. A social conservative's rebuttal to the left's criticism that the legislation would ban IVF agrees with the non-sensationalist part of the critics' arguments: The one thing the Sanctity of Human Life Act can be read to say about this process is that any "extra" embryos - eggs that were fertilized but not implanted - cannot be destroyed. (The Act doesn't mention IVF, but this is the clear implication since it grants rights of personhood at the moment of fertilization.) Yes, that would be a change from the status quo, since currently couples who undergo IVF can choose what they would like to do with extra embryos - discard them, keep them (embryos can be frozen and implanted later), donate them to research, or donate them to other infertile couples. But it is by no means a change that makes IVF impossible or even particularly difficult. If Tagg and Jen Romney had embryos left over after IVF (not all couples do), they could have preserved them for relatives or donated them to other families desperate for children. Neither option would have run afoul of the act Ryan co-sponsored. [1] Of my friends who have overcome fertility issues through IVF, I do not know any couple who would feel comfortable having others implant, and ultimately raise, their biological children. It is not a reality-based solution around the Ryan-sponsored bill, which also has no real chance of passage. Sources: http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/08/14/would-paul-ryans-anti-abortion-anti-ivf-bill-criminalize-mitt-romneys-son/ --rebuttal: [1] http://www.nationalpost.com/related/topics/Ryan+wouldn+make+Romney+kids+criminals/7097041/story.html http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/08/paul-ryan-abortion-ivf-romney-kids-criminals