Republicans are in a difficult position as a result of the Alabama Supreme Court’s finding that frozen embryos are children; they are being forced to disassociate themselves from some of the case’s far-reaching implications.

Following the shocking decision, three fertility clinics in Alabama—including the biggest health system in the state—have suspended in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures.

It has placed Republican lawmakers who support IVF but oppose abortion rights in an awkward position, making them defend their disagreements with rulings while some of them claim to think embryos are babies. 

The Senate Republican campaign arm asked its candidates to succinctly and unequivocally oppose any attempts by the government to limit IVF in a message that was released on Friday.

A copy of the document that Axios was able to obtain shows that the National Republican Senatorial Committee mocked the ruling of the all-conservative court in a heavily conservative state, claiming that it was just another tool that Democrats would use to distort the abortion debate to win votes.

A Mother’s Reaction On Alabama Supreme Court’s Ruling On Frozen Embryos

Kristia Rumbley, a Birmingham-area mother of four, thought of herself first when she learned about the contentious decision on frozen embryos made by the Alabama Supreme Court.

Rumbley, 44, claims that a nearby IVF clinic has frozen three of her embryos. She and her spouse used in vitro fertilization to grow their family when she experienced secondary infertility following the birth of their first child. After the surgery, they welcomed twins in 2016 and another kid in 2021.

Three frozen embryos were not used in the process. Rumbley and her spouse have decided to stop growing their family and are keeping the embryos in storage until they make a final decision.

Concerns are growing that additional states may make decisions along these lines, impeding the use of fertility therapy for individuals, many of whom are cancer patients who believe that IVF is their only chance to start a family following treatment.

Infertility and early menopause are two long-term effects of cancer treatments that many young men and women are left to deal with, according to Deanna Gerber, a gynecologic oncologist at New York University Langone Perlmutter Cancer Center and a triple-negative breast cancer survivor.

John Oliver stated on Last Week Tonight that it was incorrect to compare in vitro fertilization (IVF) with human conception for some reasons, chief among them being that it is acceptable if an embryo is frozen and requires explanation if a person is frozen.

But since IVF accounts for just 2 percent of births in the United States, the Alabama court’s decision has “massive implications” for the entire country. Many of the state’s fertility clinics stopped procedures right away after the verdict because they were afraid of being sued for wrongful death if any embryos were destroyed, discarded, or went undetected.

Consequently, innumerable couples are prevented from pursuing their childbearing endeavors. Oliver stated that IVF cycles required costly treatments and weeks of meticulous observation. You couldn’t just press pause and wait out a legal matter, he continued. 

 

Since then, Republicans have lost elections involving abortion on the ballot on multiple occasions. It is anticipated that President Biden’s campaign will prioritize abortion in its autumn messaging, a strategy that other Senate and House candidates throughout the nation will probably imitate.

When Nikki Haley, the Republican presidential contender, told NBC on Wednesday that she supported the decision and believed that frozen embryos created through IVF are “babies,” she reflected the problematic stance for Republicans.

Haley seemed to retract her earlier remark a few hours later.

Haley clarified that while she did not agree with the Alabama decision, she continued to hold the belief that an embryo represented an unborn child.

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