Harrop: GOP will logically have to pursue IVF and research

Only eight of the Republican Party's 210 House representatives voted in favor of a bill to protect the right to contraception, demonstrating the party's dire situation. We're discussing contraception.

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of the 5th Congressional District in Washington State criticized the plan, calling it a "Trojan Horse for more abortions."

Start by stating the obvious. The unintended pregnancies that result in abortions are prevented with contraceptives. Additionally, during the past 40 years, the number of abortions in this nation has significantly decreased, thanks to an increased usage of contraceptives.

Other Republicans grumbled that Democrats were merely acting to show support for the birth control protection law. Since contraceptives are currently legal in every state. One might concur, however, Justice Clarence Thomas recently argued that the rationale for the Supreme Court's decision to reverse Roe v. Wade could also apply to contraception.

On the basis that Congress, and not the courts, should have codified any national right to abortion, some people have objected to Roe. Well, the Democrat-controlled House just adopted that strategy about contraception. A law ensuring a right to birth control was passed.

Republicans are moving in that direction, so the question, "What about embryos?" must be asked. Amy Coney Barrett, a Supreme Court justice, signed a declaration claiming that life begins at fertilization while she was a law professor. A fertilized egg becomes an embryo.

Every year, fertility clinics waste tens of thousands of abandoned embryos. This is because only one or two eggs are usually placed in the woman during a single cycle of in vitro fertilization treatment, which normally entails collecting 10 or more eggs. In fact, several nations demand that these extra embryos be destroyed after a set amount of time.

States that see embryos as human beings ought to demand that clinics either freeze all unused embryos or shut down. Frozen embryo storage might cost more than $1,000 a year.

Justice Samuel Alito stated that abortion takes away both "potential life" and the life of an "unborn human being" in his decision that overturned Roe. The same justification is used by opponents of contraception: sperm and eggs are already capable of becoming life.

A man suffering from Type 1 diabetes, which was previously incurable, appears to be cured thanks to a new medication produced from embryonic stem cells. Brian Shelton, a 57-year-old patient from Ohio, cried with joy: "This is a whole new life. It's miraculous in a way.

One of the developers was Dr. Doug Melton. Following President George W. Bush's decision to forbid federal financing for research involving the destruction of embryos, Melton was forced to sever his lab's ties to Harvard University in 2001. Fortunately, Melton was able to build a separate lab with the aid of private funding.

Then there is research on embryonic stem cells, which has a lot of promise for eradicating medical calamities like Alzheimer's and heart disease. Embryos must be destroyed throughout the operations, many of which were donated by IVF patients who didn't need them.

Voters should consider whether they want to support a Republican Party that thinks in this way and that couldn't get even one of its 27 members to endorse something as basic as birth control as the midterm elections draw near.