Reproductive rights remain a prominent issue in the 2024 U.S. election, with the country still seeking a new balance after the Supreme Court struck down federal abortion rights in 2022.

However, a controversial ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court, which some interpreted as questioning the legality of in vitro fertilization (IVF), could exacerbate the problem and force Republicans to clarify their views on the popular procedure position, the program allows couples struggling with fertility issues to become parents.

In the wake of the ruling, many prominent Republicans, from former President Donald Trump to senior congressional leaders, have come out in support of in vitro fertilization, in which human eggs are fertilized outside the body and then implanted in the mother’s womb.

But some are working to tie that claim to previously sponsored bills that show substantial consistency with an Alabama court ruling that eggs fertilized during in vitro fertilization have the same legal status as human children.

“Sacredness of Life”

The Alabama case involved a wrongful death lawsuit filed by a client of an in vitro fertilization clinic in Alabama whose frozen embryos were accidentally destroyed. In the majority opinion, the conservative-majority court ruled that the clinic was liable because the state’s existing minor wrongful death law “is comprehensive and inadequate.” It applies to all children, born and unborn, without restrictions. “

In a unanimous opinion, Alabama Chief Justice Tom Parker emphasized the religious aspects of the court’s decision, writing that existing Alabama law includes a “theologically based view of the sanctity of life.”

Parker wrote: “To make an exception under these circumstances, however small, is unacceptable to the people of this state who ask us to treat everyone with reverence for the Holy God. They do so in accordance with His image.”

The impact of the law was that fertility clinics across the state that offered in vitro fertilization immediately stopped offering those services. The process of IVF usually involves the fertilization of multiple eggs, but not all of the eggs have to be implanted into the woman. According to the court’s ruling, destruction of non-implanted embryos, whether intentional or unintentional, could leave clinics vulnerable to wrongful death claims.

“Food” for political attacks

Jason Tillman, executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, called the Alabama ruling “fodder for Democrats looking to manipulate the abortion issue for electoral gain” in a memo to Republican Senate candidates and urged Republicans to The candidates denied the ruling.

“Zero Republican Senate candidates support restrictions on fertility treatments,” he wrote. “NRSC encourages Republican Senate candidates to clearly and succinctly reject the administration’s efforts to restrict IVF.”

In fact, the Democratic National Committee blasted the Alabama ruling, issuing a series of press releases in the days after the ruling, blaming Republican leadership for creating a climate in which such decisions become more common. .

“Donald Trump is the man behind brutal abortion bans across the country that deny women reproductive freedom and threaten in vitro fertilization for Americans trying to start families,” Democratic National Committee spokesman Ryan Lake said in a press release. reason.”

Trump’s appointment of three anti-abortion rights Supreme Court justices shifted the court’s ideological balance enough to lead to the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson women’s health decision, overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision ruling that guaranteed the right to abortion in the United States

Republicans vow to support IVF

Many high-profile Republicans have publicly supported IVF treatments. In comments in South Carolina over the weekend, Trump said he would “strongly support in vitro fertilization” if elected.

“Under my leadership, the Republican Party will always support building strong, prosperous, healthy American families. We want to make it easier, not harder, for parents to have children,” he said.

“I believe that every child’s life has immeasurable dignity and value,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement. “That’s why I support IVF treatment, which is a blessing for many moms and dads struggling to have children.”

However, Democrats were quick to point out that Johnson is the sponsor of the Conceived Life Act of 2023, which would declare fertilized eggs legally protected as human beings and make no exceptions for eggs fertilized during in vitro fertilization treatments.

“Personality” promotion

The Conceived Life Act is one of many proposals being pushed by Republicans across the country that would expand the legal definition of a human being to include a fertilized egg.

Such legislation has become more frequent in recent years, said Kimya Forouzan, chief policy associate for national issues at the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit research organization that supports reproductive rights.

“It’s hard to know exactly what’s going to happen next, but we do know that this push for character has been around for a long time, and it’s really only intensified since the Dobbs decision,” she told Us sound. “Concerns about abortion continue to expand further, including in vitro fertilization and others.”

While no court in a state other than Alabama has issued a similar opinion, there are a number of pending or enacted state laws that take a broad view of the concept of “personhood” and are open to similar interpretation.

Possibly overreacting

While many anti-abortion rights groups applauded the ruling, some experts in the movement believe that interpreting the court ruling as threatening the overall legality of IVF treatment is overblown.

“What the ruling means is that for the purposes of a minor wrongful death lawsuit, a frozen embryo is considered a person,” said Emma Waters, a senior fellow at the DeVos Center on Life, Religion and the Family. Traditionally. The foundation is a conservative think tank in Washington.

“For example, the ruling does not say that no embryos can be destroyed,” Waters told VOA. “It doesn’t even necessarily say that all embryos have personhood status. It just says that, for purposes of the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act, For the purposes of proceedings brought by the parents under this Act), the embryonic child concerned is given personality status.”

Danielle Pimentel, a policy adviser at Americans United for Life, agreed that the ruling was stricter than many opponents believed. For example, she said, if a couple who underwent successful IVF treatment allowed the clinic to discard unused embryos, there would be no cause of action under the Minor’s Wrongful Death Act.

“The Alabama Supreme Court ruling does not limit IVF or access to IVF,” Pimentel told VOA. “It simply ensures that both parents and their embryonic children are protected and that fertility clinics are There is no carelessness in having these embryonic children.”