Loving Your IVF Neighbor: An Introduction (Part 1)

With President Trump's signing of an executive order to expand IVF access, it is imperative that Christians think through the implications of what it means to love our IVF neighbor.

Leading up to the recent 2025 election, I was very vocal in my support of Donald Trump. I did not vote for him in 16 because he was too much of a wild card in my mind. I begrudgingly voted for him in 20. He so bungled COVID and the response, and promoted what we know now (some of us knew then…heck it seems like everyone knew…yes, even they knew, the adults in charge…they all knew…) to be a different kind of vaccine that was not even a vaccine at all, that it was hard to check the box for him. I wanted my vote counted though because the alternative at the time, Joseph R. Biden, I knew even then, spelled disaster for our nation. I wasn’t red pilled. I wasn’t even what the kids call noticing. I didn’t need vast evidence of conspiracy theories. Simply put, I was thinking. And listening a lot. And discussing a lot about what was going on with people closest to me.

Coming out of the “I am an enthusiastic Trump supporter closet” was not easy. Often the mention of politics among Christians brings quick reminders of not worshipping idols especially Trump (who does indeed have a cult like following among some…as did Biden, Obama, Bush etc. etc. etc.). Reminders that this earth is not our home and that we are to share the Gospel because the Gospel is what changes hearts and enough changed hearts will change a nation. Reminders that Jesus did not take on the Roman government. He submitted Himself to them in every way. Reminders that America is a blessing but we should not love America too much.

So. Yes, I affirm all of this as a Christian. I feel like I need to raise my hand and say a promise or something but I won’t. You’ll just have to trust that I’m not apart of the personality cult of Trump (most people supporting Trump aren’t by the way). Part of the reason you can trust Christians like myself is that when Trump does something that goes against what we fundamentally disagree with, we will call it out.

Leading up to the 2020 election, there were so many vocal professing Christians supporting Biden. Online they daily warned and chastised the rest of us, calling us names if we did not support their candidate. During the horrific 4 years that Biden’s administration lead the nation, I heard almost nothing from these same Christians. When Biden’s administration would do something like prosecute a pro-life citizen under the FAIR Act and then throw them in federal prison they were silent while posting memes about the dangers of purity culture. Or remember that time for 4 very long years where we were all supposed to pretend that men can be women and dominate in their sports? Oh, and drag queens. Let’s remember the drag queens. We were supposed to not only support them but celebrate them and think it is totally good, right and true for our children to stuff dollars into their thongs. And that one time when the men dressing as women showed up to the White House and showed his manufactured goods to the rest of us? And the other time when there were wildfires and floods that forced people out of their homes, but the administration kept promising billions to foreign nations while our citizens lived in tents in the winter? Evangelicals for Biden never discussed any of this (makes me wonder if they agreed with it all?) but I could go on. You know I could. The point is this: I promised myself I would not do this. I promised myself that I would continue to pay attention. I promised myself I would take the time to disagree in public with the candidate I supported since I publicly supported him.

So here I am paying attention and calling things out. I may not understand the intricacies of the war in Ukraine (I mean keeping track of billions of dollars does seem hard does it not?). I do not understand everything DOGE is up to (though I understand that USAID is helping foster human trafficking). I may not understand or be able to articulate an answer to hostilities in the Middle East (though I do understand Hamas to be a terror state that no-one should have to live under) but I do understand IVF to be unbiblical.

Like abortion, as Christians, we cannot agree to disagree. This is not a grey area. IVF should not be promoted by our government nor should we be providing ways for easier access. In signing this executive order, Trump has unleashed a whirlwind that portends itself to be genial when in fact it will produce more heartache, brokenness and death…much more death to the unborn person.

As I wrap up this lengthy introduction to this subject, I want to acknowledge that as with topics like abortion, this is a very sensitive one. I know many who have had abortions. I also know women who have had children through IVF because of infertility or other reasons. Infertility is a deeply painful experience. This isn’t a discussion about that pain though I recognize it is running through almost every comment and opinion about IVF. It also isn’t about the value of IVF children who are now alive outside of the womb. Those children have infinite value. Of course they do! This is a discussion about the millions of babies “discarded” or frozen indefinitely as well as the ones that will be “created” with the knowledge that most will die during the transfer process, be discarded or frozen for years on end. It is about those babies who are produced and then sacrificed on the alter of adult’s preferences and perceived needs. Babies, no matter how they were conceived, are a blessing. That is not the issue. It is actually because of that reality that I must speak up. Because babies outside the womb and the human value of a conceived unborn person is of infinite value we need to ask ourselves if the cost is worth it. In other words: is the cure worth the cost?

Sadly, these are not questions that Christians have thought deeply enough about. Even our thought leaders are behind. For them, this is mostly about fixing the distress of infertility and making sure it is regulated in a moral and just way. What often I do not see addressed are the data points. There is also the sticky issue of the process of IVF which is altogether taxing on the mother as well as the unborn child.

As Christians, we want more babies. Well, most of us do anyway. But we must go about this in a way that honors our Lord. We cannot accept something intrinsically immoral because we want a good thing: more babies. I intend to get into the nitty gritty of the data points. I will be relying heavily on a pamphlet written by Dusty Deevers that I will link here. I will summarize his main points in my next post about IVF to give you a more granular understanding. I recommend you reading it for yourself. I actually recommend every Christian read it. You will come away changed.