Brad Mattes
www.lifeissues.org

There’s a growing number of court battles trying to get Social Security benefits for children conceived after the father died. In one case, a man’s sperm was frozen before he began treatment for cancer. His children were born a year-and-a-half after his death, conceived by in vitro fertilization. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the kids, but said the mother must show they were deemed dependent at the time of his death. How is this possible if they weren’t even conceived yet? The courts’ job would be easier if they looked to solid medical facts—human life begins at fertilization, the union of sperm and egg. It appears to me the Ninth Circuit stuck their neck out on this one. Let’s see what the US Supreme Court does with it.