Two years ago, women and young girls across America watched the news with shock as Roe v. Wade was overturned. The overturning of that specific case meant that they no longer had the right to make medical decisions about their bodies. Instead, state governments got to decide if they could terminate a pregnancy, even in cases of rape and incest. Now, the fate of women’s reproductive rights across the United States is in the United States government’s hands again.
On February 16th, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that embryos should be defined and treated as “children” after two wrongful death cases regarding couples whose frozen embryos were destroyed in an accident at a fertility clinic. The ruling says that anyone who destroys embryos will be held liable for wrongful death. During in-vitro fertilization, a popular fertility treatment, many embryos die or are destroyed with the hope that one survives and is eventually born. If a couple receiving IVF has unsuccessful results, they can sue the clinic for wrongful death. Because of this, many of Alabama’s biggest fertility clinics have halted IVF treatments out of fear of liability.
After this ruling, many Republicans are coming out in support of IVF protection and distancing themselves from the ruling. However, most have not done anything to actually protect IVF. In January, Republicans used similar ideas found in the Alabama Supreme Court ruling to create a congressional proposal, known as the Life at Conception Act. It defines a “human being” to “include each member of the species homo sapiens at all stages of life, including the moment of fertilization or cloning, or other moment at which an individual member of the human species comes into being.” The bill would also provide protection under the 14th Amendment “for the right to life of each born and preborn human person.” However, it has no provisions for processes like IVF, meaning access to the procedure would not be protected. It would also ban nearly all abortions nationwide. In other words, women will not have a choice in whether to carry their own child to term in their own bodies. Additionally, women who wish to have children via fertility treatments will be unable to receive care. The legislation is co-sponsored by 125 Republicans in the House of Representatives.
Several lawmakers in the state are now trying to quickly introduce bills that would allow for IVF. On Sunday, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who has been a vocal proponent of reproductive rights, noted that “not a single Republican” has spoken to her about a bill she has introduced that would establish IVF and other assisted reproductive technology services as a federal right. “It’s been crickets since the Alabama ruling,” Duckworth told ABC News’s “This Week.”
To raise awareness, you can sign petitions, post on social media, and join protests. Check out the petitions below that support women’s reproductive rights.
https://action.aclu.org/petition/pledge-defend-our-abortion-rights
https://actionnetwork.org/forms/sign-the-petition-protect-reproductive-healthcare-access-pass-the-womens-health-protection-act
