U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) tried to cut through all the political revisionism and — in some notable GOP cases — contortionism around IVF and its legality after the bombshell Alabama Supreme Court decision granting personhood to embryos.
With lawmakers like Congresswoman Nancy Mace (R-SC) facing ridicule for claiming support for IVF even after having signed a 2022 bill claiming life begins at fertilization — Life at Conception Act, H.R.1011, the concept that undergirds the Alabama ruling — Smith reminded people that Democrats “actually tried to pass a bill protecting IVF just over a year ago.”
Actions speak louder than words. May I remind everyone that we actually tried to pass a bill protecting IVF just over a year ago?
— Senator Tina Smith (@SenTinaSmith) February 23, 2024
Republicans blocked it.
The result? The bill was crushed by MAGA adherents led by Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS). Introduced by Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) the bill was designed to protect access to fertility treatments after the Supreme Court scuttled Roe v. Wade. Specifically, “to prohibit the limitation of access to assisted reproductive technology, and all medically necessary care surrounding such technology.”
“Republicans blocked it,” Smith laments.
Democrats had immediately worried that post-Roe legislation aimed at making abortions illegal would also sweep up IVF, either by design or inadvertently — due to the legal repercussions of the “life-at-conception” designation.
For the Alabama Court, there was no ambiguity as to intent — its decision meant to target IVF. For legislators like Mace, the IVF and anti-abortion issues are separate, even if the legal definition of life in the GOP bills makes them inextricable.
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