'Outrageous': Kamala Harris slams Alabama court ruling that frozen embryos are children
Joey GarrisonWASHINGTON ― Vice President Kamala Harris slammed the Alabama Supreme Court's decision that frozen embryos should be considered children under state law, arguing the ruling is already having dangerous consequences for women in the state.
"This decision is outrageous − and it is already robbing women of the freedom to decide when and how to build a family," Harris said Wednesday in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The Alabama Supreme Court ruled that embryos created during in-vitro fertilization are "extrauterine children" and legally protected like any other child. IVF advocates fear the ruling could eventually spread to other states and have far-reaching consequences for millions of Americans struggling to get pregnant.
About 2% of births a year in the U.S. involve IVF, a process by which multiple eggs are harvested, fertilized and implanted to create a pregnancy.
The court's recent ruling repeatedly invoked Christian faith and the Alabama Constitution, which specifically protects unborn children, although that has typically referred to a developing fetus inside a womb. Alabama adopted a ban on abortions in 2022.
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"This is exactly the type of chaos that we expected when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and paved the way for politicians to dictate some of the most personal decisions families can make," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday.
"All across the country, women are being forced to grapple with the devastating consequences of action by Republican elected officials," she said.
President Joe Biden's reelection campaign is running aggressively on restoring abortion rights following the Supreme Court's 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade, which for five decades provided a constitutional right to an abortion. Harris has helped lead the charge on the Biden administration's efforts to protect abortion access.
The Biden campaign, bracing for a likely general election rematch against Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, has worked to remind female voters that Trump's three Supreme Court appointments were instrumental in Roe's dismantling. The campaign this week seized on a New York Times report that Trump has privately expressed he favors a national ban on abortion after 16 weeks of pregnancy.
Nikki Haley, Trump's only remaining major Republican primary opponent, said Wednesday she agreed with the Alabama Supreme Court's decision.
“Embryos, to me, are babies,” Haley told NBC News. “When you talk about an embryo you are talking about to me, that's a life. And so I do see where that's coming from when they talk about that."
Contributing: Trevor Hughes and Karissa Waddick, USA TODAY
Reach Joey Garrison on X, formerly Twitter, @joeygarrison.