Former President Donald Trump demanded in a social media post on Friday that the Alabama state legislature "find an immediate solution to preserve the availability of IVF [in vitro fertilization]" in the state.
Concerns over the availability of IVF treatment in Alabama have grown after the state Supreme Court ruled late last week that frozen embryos created through IVF are considered children under Alabama law.
The Context
Ever since Roe v. Wade was overturned in June 2022, states have enacted anti-abortion laws. While most Republicans argue these laws will save unborn fetuses, most Democrats see them as an attack on women's health care and their bodily autonomy.
The center of this conversation around the Alabama Supreme Court decision is that, theoretically, doctors could be sued for destroying an embryo. Embryos are often discarded during the IVF process, either due to genetic abnormalities or if patients decided to not use them.
With so many unknowns, several facilities in Alabama have paused their IVF services, leaving patients in the dark and potential parents concerned that they won't be given the chance to grow their families.
What We Know
Following the Alabama ruling, Republicans have been scrambling to come up with answers for their base on how the decision affects IVF treatment.
Trump, the GOP front-runner in the 2024 presidential election, posted on his social media platform Truth Social amid Americans' rising concerns, "Under my leadership, the Republican Party will always support the creation of strong, thriving, healthy American families. We want to make it easier for mothers and fathers to have babies, not harder! That includes supporting the availability of fertility treatments like IVF in every State in America.
"Like the OVERWHELMING 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 precious baby."
The former president pressed Alabama lawmakers: "Today, I am calling on the Alabama Legislature to act quickly to find an immediate solution to preserve the availability of IVF in Alabama.
"The Republican Party should always be on the side of the Miracle of Life - and the side of Mothers, Fathers, and their Beautiful Babies. IVF is an important part of that, and our Great Republican Party will always be with you, in your quest, for the ULTIMATE JOY IN LIFE!"
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall responded to concerns of IVF treatment in relation to the state Supreme Court ruling.
In an email to Newsweek on Friday, Marshall's chief counsel, Katherine Robertson, said that "Attorney General Marshall has no intention of using the recent Alabama Supreme Court decision as a basis for prosecuting IVF families or providers."
Newsweek reached out to Trump's campaign via email for comment.
The Views
Trump's political opponent, Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, told NBC News on Wednesday that "embryos, to me, are babies."
Haley, former South Carolina governor and ex-United Nations ambassador, also discussed her personal experience, as she had her son through artificial insemination: "I know that when my doctor came in, we knew what was possible and what wasn't."
"Every woman needs to know, with her partner, what she's looking at. And then when you look at that, then you make the decision that's best for your family," Haley added.
On Thursday, CNN's Jake Tapper said to Haley: "You have said that you believe an embyro is a baby, is a life. But you also said the decision about what to do with embryos, that should be between a doctor and a patient. So, I guess my question is: You then disagreed with the Alabama Supreme Court, right?"
Haley responded: "Yeah, but I think that the court was doing it based on the law and I think Alabama needs to go back and look at the law."
Vice President Kamala Harris called the Alabama Supreme Court ruling "shocking," but "not surprising."
"What we have seen in Alabama, it has now been attacked, and access to reproductive health care through IVF is being taken from countless individuals and families," she told reporters on Thursday.
What's Next?
Representative Nancy Mace, a South Carolina Republican, told Axios on Thursday that she is working on a legislative response to the Alabama ruling.
"We should do everything we can to protect IVF for women everywhere," Mace said. "We are currently drafting a resolution to express our sentiment and then looking at legislative options."
Democrats, meanwhile, have used abortion bans and other restrictions on women's health care since Roe v. Wade was overturned as a rallying cry for women and others affected by these new legislative actions to vote blue in the November election.
In January, President Joe Biden and Harris made their first joint reelection campaign appearance, at an abortion-rights rally in Virginia.
"Give me a Democratic House of Representatives and give me a bigger, bigger Democratic Senate where we will pass a new law restoring and protecting Roe v. Wade, and I will sign it up immediately," Biden said.
Update 02/23/24, 3:50 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
About the writer
Rachel Dobkin is a Newsweek reporter based in New York. Her focus is reporting on politics. Rachel joined Newsweek in ... Read more