What is particularly under discussion is what to do with the excess embryos that do not end up being used during IVF procedures. Alabama’s decision prevents those embryos from being discarded, effectively blocking the practice of the procedure in the state. Several clinics have already stopped operations.
Former President Donald Trump, current favorite in the Republican presidential race, declared his support for in vitro fertilization treatment and asked Alabama legislators to preserve access to it.
“Like the VAST MAJORITY of Americans, including the VAST MAJORITY of Republicans, conservatives, Christians and pro-life Americans, I strongly support the availability of IVF for couples who are trying to have a beautiful baby,” he said in a post on Social Truth.
But Republicans have struggled to address the underlying premise of the decision: that embryos are people and cannot be discarded.
This is a very “complex” issue, Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said Sunday during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“I’m not sure everyone has really thought through what all the potential problems are, and as a result, no one really knows what the possible answers are,” he said.
Democrats were quick to criticize Republicans over the issue following the decision. The Biden campaign wasted no time accusing Trump of trying to divert attention from the role he played in ending Roe v. Wade after he issued his statement in support of IVF.
“American women don’t care what Donald Trump posts on Truth Social; They care that they cannot access fertility treatments because of him,” said campaign director Julie Chávez Rodríguez. “Let’s be clear: the loss of access to IVF for Alabama families is a direct result of the overturning of Roe v. Wade by Donald Trump’s Supreme Court justices. Trump is responsible for more than 20 abortion bans, restrictions on women’s ability to decide if and when to start a family, and attacks on contraception.”
On Sunday, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer echoed the campaign.
“We have always known that with the appointments that Donald Trump made to the Supreme Court of the United States, IVF, a woman’s ability to make her own decisions about her body and the whole panoply of things that come from that were in jeopardy. . the Democratic governor said during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.” The Alabama ruling is “a natural extension of that,” he added.
And Democrats are unlikely to stop attacking Trump and Republicans with the message, the senator said. Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois) said Sunday.
“This is what we are going to talk about. “We’re going to talk about the fact that Donald Trump is the right man and Republicans have been working, literally, for years, to take away reproductive choice, which includes access to IVF, from people struggling to start a family,” Duckworth said during a conference. interview on ABC’s “This Week.”