Megan Best, “Fearfully and Wonderfully Made”

The recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling regarding cryogenically preserved human embryos raises numerous questions about the process of in vitro fertilization (IVF), the moral status of human embryos, the cryopreservation of embryos, the status of embryos as a matter of law, and more. 

These are questions that we at The Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity have been addressing for 30 years now. We have a number of resources on our website that speak to these and other questions surrounding reproductive technologies like IVF and the issues that arise from them.

For this episode of the podcast, we’ve chosen a presentation by Dr. Megan Best, an Associate Fellow of CBHD, a Researcher at the Institute of Ethics & Society at the University of Notre Dame Australia, and an honorary Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Sydney.

In the presentation, Dr. Best looks at the moral status of the embryo and other ethical issues that arise at the beginning of life, which are especially relevant to the conversations happening in the wake of the Alabama Supreme Court’s ruling. 

I should also add that our next episode will feature a response by a psychologist and Christian counselor on how we can extend this conversation even further into our churches, so stay tuned for that! 

• Video version of Dr. Best's presentation: YouTube
• Alabama, Embryos, and Ethics at cbhd.org
• CBHD resources on Reproductive Ethics