Jennifer Lopez may not be a model of modesty, but in other areas of her life she appears to have not forgotten her roots in New York City Catholic schools.
In the upcoming movie “The Back-Up Plan,” Lopez plays a woman who becomes pregnant via in vitro fertilization with an anonymous sperm donor. In a recent interview with Elle magazine, when asked how she feels about artificial means of procreation, the actress answered:
“When it comes to family and relationships, I’m quite traditional. Just because of the way I was raised ... And I also believe in God and I have a lot of faith in that, so I just felt like you don’t mess with things like that.”
She did not say that IVF is wrong. She did not even mention the grave injustice done to embryos that are “discarded” when it’s determined that they are no longer needed.
And yet her words have ruffled feathers anyway.
A Fox News Story quotes some couples who have undergone IVF treatments in order to conceive their children:
“It’s not ‘messing’ or intruding in God’s plan, you go after things in life that you want and don’t sit back and wait for things to happen. God helps those who help themselves.”
and
“I am Catholic, but I believe in life if you want something, you have to make it happen yourself regardless of whether you believe in God. We had faith in what we were doing, and IVF was there to help us.”
There’s a striking focus on “what I want” instead of “what is right.”
You’ll find a clear explanation of Catholic teaching on the subject of IVF and other reproductive technologies in Begotten Not Made: A Catholic View of Reproductive Technology, a short article by Dr. John M. Haas, President of the National Catholic Bioethics Center.
Comments
Post a Comment
Congratulations on this new gig. Thank you for sharing.
Sometimes I find it a challenge to defend Catholic teaching—I can’t put it into words without sounding judgemental etc. But really I think it is a matter of having faith that God’s plan is better than our own. I know beautiful couples who struggle with infertility, but have such peace of mind that the Lord will answer they prayers in the right way, in His own time. This may mean never having a biological child, but they will be fruitful in other ways if they follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
The attitude of pushing through all absticals to get whatever I want is very Consumerist/materialist—a contrast to a life of faith/sacrifice etc.
This strikes a chord with me….it’s definitely about “I want” instead of what God wants for me.
We must always remember Thy Will Be Done.
This is good! I bet one day J. Lo will be more of a role model and a good Catholic again. Just give it time!
Chantell Snyder
My husband and I have three beautiful children together. We would like to have more children if it is meant to be. So far God’s will has been not to. It is kind of sad but we mostly feel greatful. Recently a well intentioned family memeber told me he would pray to God that we conceive. I was surprised but didn’t want to hurt his feelings.However, I feel kind of perplexed by the question too.
Actually, the work of the Pope Paul IV’s institute is more successful than in vitro. (Besides it not being offensive to God and all the other negative stuff.) You can “Go after it,” but in God’s way. Then, if you don’t get pregnant, maybe there’s a reason.
In case you haven’t been informed the Church says IVF is a moral sin (Donum Vitae).
And the donor isn’t even her husband.
There is no reason for me to like her.
LRoy, of course IVF is wrong. The whole point of this blog post was to point out the fact that Jennifer Lopez 1) did not use IVF to conceive her babies and 2) spoke out publicly against the practice.
Post a Comment
By submitting this form, you give The National Catholic Register permission to publish this comment. Comments will be published at our discretion, and may be edited for clarity and length. For best formatting, please limit your response to one paragraph and don't hit "enter" to force line breaks.