Solid case for a Naperville clinic
A proposal for a reproductive fertility clinic near downtown Naperville sparked surprising opposition at a recent city council meeting.
The physician seeking to build the facility was surprised, as were we, by a dozen or so residents who object to the clinic.
There are other such clinics in Naperville and other suburbs. We don’t recall hearing such opposition directed toward this kind of legal, medical service in the suburbs before. But clearly, there are people who believe fervently that these clinics are as much in the business of destroying life as in the business of creating it. That seems to be at the heart of their objection.
The facts are these: Randy Morris, a licensed doctor specializing in reproductive endocrinology and infertility, seeks to build a clinic at Benton Avenue and Washington Street that would provide services including insemination, in vitro fertilization and unblocking fallopian tubes.
He seeks to build a facility that would house offices, a surgery center and an in vitro fertilization laboratory. Morris received a state certificate of need for the facility last fall, and the city council is set to take up the proposal Tuesday because Morris needs sign and parking variances.
The city’s planning and zoning commission unanimously approved the plan last month and the city’s planning staff recommends approval.
Morris already operates an office in Naperville and another in Chicago. He would like to consolidate in Naperville, he says, because that is where he, his family and many of his patients live.
Recently, a North Central College senior told elected officials she believes the fertility industry “preys on the financial vulnerability of my female peers.” Others suggested the clinic was too close to schools, almost as if an “adult book store” with seamy signs was proposed. Mary Beth and Mike Brummond told council members they’ve been trying to conceive for 29 months, but would not use fertility help because they believe clinics take away the dignity of a future child by making it a “manufactured commodity.”
We doubt that anyone who has held babies born with the help of such clinics would concur.
To be sure, the Brummonds and others have an absolute right to their beliefs and to expressing them. But it also bears noting that some families praise the work of such doctors and their staffs for helping them have children that otherwise would not have been possible.
Whether helped by doctors or not, many women have miscarriages or lose fertilized eggs or go through the harrowing experience of bearing a stillborn child. Some Naperville residents believe the intervention and loss of some embryos in that intervention is wrong, yet society at large has embraced the process, tilting in favor of the many beautiful children and healthy families who have grown and thrived because of the work of reproductive clinics.
Everyone’s beliefs should be heard and respected. But if this one facility has met the legal requirements for safe practice, it should be approved,