On Monday October 4th, 2010 Robert G. Edwards was awarded the Nobel Prize for his discovery and ongoing contributions to the infertility treatment known as In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) Therapy. Also widely becoming known as the father of the ‘test tube baby.’
Italy’s official news agency ANSA reports the Bishop Ignacio Carrasco de Paula, President of the Pontifical Academy for Life said that awarding the Nobel Prize to Robert Edwards was ‘completely inappropriate,’ according to the agency.
“Without Edwards, there would be no market for human eggs; without Edwards there would not be freezers full of embryos waiting to be transferred to a uterus, or, more likely, used for research or left to die, abandoned and forgotten about by all,” he said.
Much debate has been swarming around IVF treatment since the late 1970’s. It has since sparked more media attention due to issues concerning stem cell research, the decision if the procedure should be covered by health insurance to help infertile couples and of course the widely known case of Nadya Suleman who has become affectionately known in the news as Octomom.
No comments have been reported from the Norwegian Nobel committee.
