Utah Free Press

Octuplets a Choice!

By Richard Okelberry (Note: This essay was originally published at KVNU’s, For the People Blog.) 

“… questions have been raised about both the responsibilities of fertility doctors and the psychological aspects of fertility treatment.” – The Octuplets Debate, Part 2 – NYTimes Opinion

For those of you who support a woman’s right to make her own reproductive decisions yet want to stay on message in light of the ethics debate surrounding the California mother who recent gave birth to octuplets, I am here to help!

First, it is important to put down any debate regarding Ethics surrounding this case.  We need to remember first and foremost that a woman’s right to make her own reproductive decisions is absolute under the Roe vs. Wade decision.  Not only does this woman have the right to abort a fetus at will, she also has the right to put as many fertilized eggs in her body as she likes.  Any ethics debate in the medical community about placing limits on the number of eggs placed during an in vitro fertilization should be immediately halted.  Only one person has the right to make such a decision and that person is the mother.  As with abortion, no one else should even be talking about this issue.

Even if a woman decides to place 100 fertilized eggs in her womb she must be allowed to do so without any governmental restrictions or oversight. It’s not like this is some other type of medical procedure.  This is a reproductive procedure which enjoys special protections under the Constitution.

Also, We must all remember that these fertilized eggs do not qualify as human life.  As such they are under the absolute control and decision making of the mother alone.  After all, any ethical debate surrounding this issue would have to presume that these eggs are a human life while in reality they are nothing but a lump of cells owned and controlled by the woman who can do with them what she likes.

Second, there is a movement in the medical community to create regulations or guidelines for the number of eggs that can be implanted during in vitro fertilization.  Just as with abortion, doctors should not be allowed to hide behind their ethical standings and refuse a woman this procedure.  Any physician that refuses to perform either an abortion or in vitro fertilization on request should be seen as standing in the way of a woman’s reproductive rights and have their medical license suspended.

Supporters of Roe vs. Wade need to always be on guard against attempts by religious fanatics to impose their religious ideals in the form of “Medical Ethics” on woman who want to control their own reproductive systems.  Advocates of Choice should use this instance as an example of how a woman not only has the right to terminate a pregnancy but also has the right to have as many kids at a time as she wishes.