The Dignity of Human Procreation and the Simple Case in Vitro Fertilization: Moral-Theological Debate in the Light of "Donum Vitae"

Whereas, almost all Catholic moral theologians and ethicists do not have many problems receiving the negative judgment of Donum Vitae on heterologous artificial insemination and regular IVF as procedures of generating human life, only few find it difficult and unacceptable for the Simple Case IVF to be proscribed because they consider it less problematic. The Catholic Scholars who express dissent against the evaluation and conclusion of the Magisterium on the Simple Case seem to suggest that the destruction of human embryos and the use of a donor constitute the only problem of this procedure. But their reasoning can be considered inadequate because it fails to understand the theological and moral basis for the dignity of human procreation. The fact that the Simple Case IVF violates the principle of inseparability of the conjugal act by seeking the generation of human life outside of the conjugal act makes it intrinsically illicit and unacceptable for human procreation.

Patrick I. Abem is a Catholic Priest, Moral Theologian and Seminary Formator. He holds Licentiate and Doctorate Degrees from the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome. He is currently the Head of Department of Theology and teaches courses in Bioethics and Moral Theology in St Joseph Major Seminary, IKot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.