{"id":1212,"date":"2012-10-02T10:02:00","date_gmt":"2012-10-02T10:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/catholic-students-spark-controversy-over-ivf-support\/"},"modified":"2012-10-02T10:02:00","modified_gmt":"2012-10-02T10:02:00","slug":"catholic-students-spark-controversy-over-ivf-support-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/10\/catholic-students-spark-controversy-over-ivf-support-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Catholic students spark controversy over IVF support"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Los Angeles, Calif., Oct 2, 2012 \/ 04:02 am (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- Students at Loyola Law School have drawn criticism over writing a legal brief in support of Costa Rica legalizing in-vitro fertilization, a practice condemned by the Church.<\/p>\n

\tThe L.A.-based Catholic school issued a statement on its decision to submit the brief, saying it is \u201ccommitted to the academic freedom of faculty members and students to participate in the study of different perspectives.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tBut Dr. Anthony Lilles, professor of spiritual theology at St. John Vianney Seminary in Denver, Colo., countered that a Catholic understanding of academic freedom means that it should be guided by truth as revealed in scripture and tradition, and as taught by the Magisterium of the Church.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cAcademic freedom means the freedom to pursue the truth, wherever it might take you,\u201d he said in an interview with CNA Oct. 1.<\/p>\n

\tNews of the legal brief was first broken by the Cardinal Newman Society.<\/p>\n

\tLoyola Law School is a branch of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, which describes itself as a \u201cCatholic institution.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe legal brief, submitted Sept. 3, concerns a case before the Inter-American Court on Human Rights, in which Costa Rican couples wishing to use in-vitro fertilization are suing the country for prohibiting the practice. The brief is called an \u201camicus curiae,\u201d or \u201cfriend of the court.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe document was prepared by students in the International Human Rights Clinic, and supervised by Professor Cesare Romano.<\/p>\n

\tLoyola Law School is not representing either side in the case, and by releasing the brief \u201cmerely seeks to advise the court on a matter that relates to the litigation,\u201d the school's statement reported.<\/p>\n

\tThe brief is written solely on legal grounds and does not address the moral implications of IVF, which almost invariably results in the destruction of human embryos.<\/p>\n

\tStudents at the Catholic law school encouraged the court to \u201csteer clear of the debate about when life begins and what the legal status of human embryos is.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tRather than deciding the case based on the rights of embryos, the brief indicated that the the decision should be grounded in \u201cthe rights of infertile women and men.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tAlthough the brief said that the issue of when life begins \u201cremains better left to the will of States and their practice,\u201d it overlooked Costa Rica's move to not to legalize in-vitro when a bill permitting the practice failed in its legislature.<\/p>\n

\tIn 1987, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith released \u201cDonum vitae,\u201d an instruction on the dignity of human procreation. In-vitro fertilization was found to be \u201cmorally illicit\u201d because it \u201cestablishes the domination of technology over the origin and destiny of the human person.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cSuch a relationship of domination is in itself contrary to the dignity and equality that must be common to parents and children,\u201d the congregation said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\tLoyola Law School's statement explaining the brief said that their vision of academic freedom is \u201cin harmony with the Law School\u2019s institutional Catholic identity and Ignatian heritage.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tDr. Lilles responded, however, that \u201cCatholic universities need to be instruments of the truth.\u201d He concluded by saying that \u201chopefully the faculty there will continue to work with those students so they can make better moral judgments.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tCalls to Professor Romano and the student authors of the brief were not responded to in time for publication.<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Los Angeles, Calif., Oct 2, 2012 \/ 04:02 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- Students at Loyola Law School have drawn criticism over writing a legal brief in support of Costa Rica legalizing in-vitro fertilization, a practice condemned by the Church.<\/p>\n

\tThe L.A.-based…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\nCatholic students spark controversy over IVF support<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Los Angeles, Calif., Oct 2, 2012 \/ 04:02 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- Students at Loyola Law School have drawn criticism over writing a legal brief in support of Costa Rica legalizing in-vitro fertilization, a practice condemned by the Church. 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