Senate Republicans, who objected to a vote on the matter on Wednesday despite strong opposition to a recent verdict by the Alabama Supreme Court that puts the process in jeopardy, have rejected legislation that would safeguard access to in vitro fertilization. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat who battled years of infertility before using IVF procedures to conceive her two children, requested a vote, but Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, a Republican, opposed. According to the AP, Duckworth's measure would provide a federal entitlement to the procedures after the Alabama verdict upended the state's reproductive care system and affected families who had already begun the process.
In order to sort out the verdict from last week, which said that frozen embryos may be deemed children under state law, some facilities in Alabama have announced they are suspending IVF treatments. Democrats have jumped on the problem, threatening to replicate Alabama's actions in other states. at her defense of the ruling, Hyde-Smith cited the two wrongful death lawsuits that three couples who had their frozen embryos destroyed at a fertility clinic accidently filed. "I am in favor of men and moms having complete access to IVF and starting a family. In addition, I think that human life ought to be preserved," Hyde-Smith said.
Republicans have now obstructed Duckworth's measure twice. Democrats said they are pressing Republican senators to show genuine support for IVF access by bringing it up again, after widespread criticism of the state decision. Democrats ridiculed the overturning of Roe v. Wade during their 45-minute Senate floor demonstration on Wednesday. Republicans who criticize the Alabama judgment, according to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, "are like the arsonist who sets a house on fire and says, why is it burning?" Schumer remarked on Tuesday. Duckworth discussed in her address how she became an IVF mother after suffering an injury while operating a Black Hawk helicopter in Iraq. "IVF allows me to experience the turmoil, beauty, worry, and pleasure that come with becoming a mother," the woman said.
In order to sort out the verdict from last week, which said that frozen embryos may be deemed children under state law, some facilities in Alabama have announced they are suspending IVF treatments. Democrats have jumped on the problem, threatening to replicate Alabama's actions in other states. at her defense of the ruling, Hyde-Smith cited the two wrongful death lawsuits that three couples who had their frozen embryos destroyed at a fertility clinic accidently filed. "I am in favor of men and moms having complete access to IVF and starting a family. In addition, I think that human life ought to be preserved," Hyde-Smith said.
Republicans have now obstructed Duckworth's measure twice. Democrats said they are pressing Republican senators to show genuine support for IVF access by bringing it up again, after widespread criticism of the state decision. Democrats ridiculed the overturning of Roe v. Wade during their 45-minute Senate floor demonstration on Wednesday. Republicans who criticize the Alabama judgment, according to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, "are like the arsonist who sets a house on fire and says, why is it burning?" Schumer remarked on Tuesday. Duckworth discussed in her address how she became an IVF mother after suffering an injury while operating a Black Hawk helicopter in Iraq. "IVF allows me to experience the turmoil, beauty, worry, and pleasure that come with becoming a mother," the woman said.
