The Incredible Egg: Part 3

Continued from The Incredible Egg: Part 2

So why am I going on about the egg?  It isn't just because of the science surrounding the egg.  I think it is a symbol of much more.

I have been avoiding this entry because it will be difficult.  The Good Lord knows that I am no theologian, and I have prayed for Him to help me out with this part.  Forgive me if I fall short, which I am sure I will.  Here goes...

Clearly, the egg is very powerful.  We women should be proud of what we hold in our bodies and men should respect it.  But, more and more the egg is in demand and the demand cannot be filled.  More and more women's fertility will be put at risk to get to those eggs.  More and more scientists will turn a blind eye to the abuses of women as long as they get their "golden eggs."  With egg demand on the rise, and if SCNT in humans is successful, I believe women will become even more marginalized, and more like commodities, not less.

Which brings me to the Church.  Critics of the Catholic Church have said that it marginalizes women and does not respect the "sacred feminine."  (Sorry, couldn't resist the chance to slam Dan Brown.)  In my experience, they could not be more wrong. 

The Church has great respect for women evidenced by (but not limited to) its reverence for the procreative power that women hold.  The Church says that it is not O.K. to only "acknowledge" some parts of the female reproductive system and leave others.  It is not O.K. to ask women to distort or change their fertility so that men can have what they want without consequence.  It is not O.K. to make women, or their wombs, or their eggs commodities to be bought and sold.

In short, I believe that because of the respect the Church grants to women, and to sex in general, the Church acknowledges the power of the egg.  It is not O.K. to put a women's fertility or life at risk to obtain the incredible egg for research or therapeutic purposes. 

This is where the Church and feminists everywhere have common ground.  Crazy huh?

I am just waiting for science to stand up and say, "Can we do this without the egg?  Can we make pluripotent stem cells without making women commodities?  We should try!"