WASHINGTON — Mississippi Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith on Wednesday blocked passage of a bill that would protect access to in vitro fertilization.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., was sent to the floor for consideration with unanimous consent. That means one senator can block the bill from passing, but it would give in vitro fertilization federal protection.
The Alabama Supreme Court recently ruled that embryos produced through in vitro fertilization are considered children.
Many doctors and families worry that IVF will no longer be available because they could theoretically be sued for destroying embryos. During the IVF process, embryos are often discarded if they have a genetic abnormality or if the patient decides there is no need to use them.
Since the court's ruling, politicians from both parties have expressed support for IVF protections.
Duckworth, who used IVF to give birth to her two daughters, said the Alabama ruling “paints women like me and doctors like me as criminals.” “Access to IVF is in turmoil as countless women and doctors consider whether or not to apply.” To start a family. ”
She went on to call it “a nightmarish mixture of hypocrisy and misogyny.”
“The very people who claim to be championing family values are the ones who are enacting dystopian policies that prevent Americans from starting families of their own,” she added.
In his dissent, Hyde-Smith said Alabama's decision “does not ban IVF, and no state bans IVF.”
“The bill we have before us today is a massive overreach, filled with toxic overreach that goes far beyond ensuring legal access to IVF,” she said.
Many Republican politicians who claim to believe that life begins at conception or that fetuses and fetuses should be afforded the full rights of human beings, We are under pressure to clarify our views on in vitro fertilization, which is a type of in vitro fertilization. problem.
In Alabama, the Legislature is scrambling to come up with amendments to protect IVF practices in light of the state's high court ruling.
The Democratic Party has been politically involved in this issue. They've used it to criticize Republicans on abortion. This is an issue that has hurt Republicans in past elections since conservative justices on the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in 2022.
“This has always been an issue of conservative politicians controlling women's bodies,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said Wednesday. “This has been Donald Trump and the Republican Party’s plan all along, and today’s opposition to Sen. Duckworth’s proposal shows that Republicans are doubling down on reproductive freedom. They're coming for it, they're coming for contraception, and they're coming for prenatal care, so make no mistake.”