Cooney joins WORT to clarify fertility myths

Laura Cooney, MD, associate professor in the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, recently joined WORT FM to discuss a new pseudo-medical treatment called restorative reproductive medicine. 

Pro-choice advocates are warning about the rise of a new pseudo-medical treatment called restorative reproductive medicine. They see it as a back door way to push an anti-abortion agenda by rejecting IVF because it creates embryos that may ultimately be discarded. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists doesn’t recognize restorative reproductive medicine (RRM), saying it is unproven and an example of harmful interference in the practice of medicine.

In “Restorative Reproductive Medicine Is Not What It Sounds Like”, Cooney discusses what RRM is, who the proponents of it are, and why it is not a medical treatment:

“RRM is really founded in a religious belief rather than a medical practice. Things like IUI, intrauterine insemination, things like IVF, where embryos are created out of the body, are not morally acceptable, and so they are sort of taking a religious belief and putting it into a medical practice, and I don’t think that all patients necessarily understand that … By tying fertility care to the personhood effort, it’s taking away coverage and access for patients who need things like IVF … and it’s tying a lot of the fertility care back to the discussions around abortion and timing of abortion and legality or morality of abortion.”

Listen to the whole interview here.

**by Ob-Gyn Communications Intern Melis Baskaya