LONDON, U.K., July 27, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Over one and a half million embryonic children have been killed in Britain through IVF procedures since 1991, according to new data from the country’s Department of Health.
The figures, revealed by Britain’s Health Minister Lord Howe in response to a request from Lord Alton, show that over 30 embryos are created for every live birth through IVF.
Doctors have created more than 3.1 million human embryos since Britain passed its Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act in 1991, resulting in only 94,090 successful births. Of the remainder, 1,455,832 embryos have been discarded, 101,605 were destroyed through research, and 764,311 were frozen.
“We are creating and destroying human embryos on an industrial scale,” said Lord Alton, according to the Daily Mail.
He criticized the fact that the government has spent so much money on IVF when there are 600 abortions in the country every day and only 70 babies offered for adoption every year.
Pro-life advocates have heavily criticized IVF, in large part because of the massive death toll that it entails. As the figures reveal, in each round numerous children are conceived to improve the chances of implantation, but those remaining unused are simply “discarded” or frozen.
Critics also argue that the procedure reduces the newly-formed human life to the status of a commodity, and say that the child is meant to be conceived through the mutual love of husband and wife in the conjugal act.
Additionally, research has shown that babies born from IVF have a much higher chance of birth defects, including heart valve defects, cleft lip and palate, and digestive system abnormalities. In 2009, the British government’s Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority warned that IVF babies have a 30% higher risk of genetic abnormality.
