A Cryogenic Solution to the Pro-Life Inconsistency Problem

Abstract: In response to the troubling condition of infertility, modern medical science has offered an alternative path to having children through assisted reproductive technologies like In vitro fertilization (IVF). IVF involves the ex-utero production of fertilized embryos that are transferred to the pregnant person, but more embryos are fertilized than transferred. For those who affirm the personhood of embryos after conception, hereafter pro-lifers, the existence of these supernumerary embryos calls into question the ethical status of IVF. While critics say that one cannot simultaneously support embryo protections and IVF, there is a way for pro-lifers to advocate for both the protection of human embryos and access to IVF. By calling for a version of IVF where all the unused embryos are frozen indefinitely until use, adoption, or expiration, pro-lifers can support IVF. Call this the Cryogenic Argument. This paper argues that freezing all supernumerary embryos until use, adoption, or expiration is akin to indefinitely cryopreserving a living human being, and, via the principle of double effect, is ethical even if the embryos expire during cryopreservation. To make this argument, I start by explaining the inconsistency problem for pro-lifers. Then I offer the Cryogenic Argument as a solution available to pro-lifers. Finally, I respond to multiple objections, including those concerning donation of embryos to science, cost and storage concerns related to frozen embryos, and people’s claims on their genetic material. If this argument succeeds, pro-lifers can support IVF as a fertility treatment without worrying about ethical inconsistency.

Keywords: Pro-Life, Inconsistency Problem, Cryogenics