Pro-life Republicans who previously supported or used IVF have remained silent after a controversial court ruling could put the GOP in hot water heading into the 2024 election cycle.
Last week, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos used for in vitro fertilization (IVF) are boys. As a result, at least two Alabama fertility clinics have suspended IVF treatments for fear of prosecution, because the ruling means people could theoretically be sued for destroying an embryo.
It could open the door to wrongful death lawsuits in any cases where embryos do not survive being thawed and transferred to the womb, which could send the state’s doctors fleeing elsewhere to practice medicine.
And the political consequences are set to be enormous, as pro-life Republicans will be forced to take a public stance on the popular IVF treatments used by one in six Americans struggling to conceive.
President Joe Biden called the ruling “outrageous and unacceptable” in a statement Thursday, saying it is the “direct result” of the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court.
According to a recent poll conducted by former Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, 86 percent of Americans support access to treatment. That includes 78 percent of ‘pro-lifers’ and 83 percent of evangelicals.
Former Vice President Mike Pence revealed in his book ‘So Help Me God’ that his wife Karen underwent IVF while they struggled with infertility in their marriage.
Former Vice President Mike Pence revealed in his book ‘So Help Me God’ that his wife Karen underwent IVF many times while they struggled with infertility.
The Alabama Supreme Court has ruled that frozen embryos are children and will therefore receive the same protection under state law.
“I fully support fertility treatments and believe they deserve the protection of the law,” Pence previously said in an interview.
“They gave us great comfort in those long, challenging years when we struggled with infertility in our marriage,” the staunchly pro-life Republican added.
Mike and Karen have three children (Audrey, Michael and Charlotte) and three grandchildren. A spokesperson for Pence did not immediately respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com.
GOP campaign operatives are also trying to downplay the threat of any potential electoral setback for Republicans in 2024 due to the decision.
National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) communications director Mike Berg simply told DailyMail.com that none of his candidates support a ban.
“There is not a single Republican Senate candidate in the entire country who is proposing to ban IVF,” Berg said.
But 2024 Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley didn’t shy away from the issue, saying this week that frozen embryos are “babies.”
Haley, who has spoken generally about her personal struggles with fertility, said she used artificial insemination to have her son Nalin, the second of her two children.
Artificial insemination is a different process than IVF that does not present the same complexities around creating embryos in a laboratory. But Haley has said that her struggle to have children has influenced her pro-life stance.
But he later clarified his comments and said he disagreed with the Alabama court’s decision.
“Well, first of all, I don’t — I mean, I repeat, I didn’t say I agreed with the Alabama ruling,” he said on CNN Thursday.
Prominent states have written laws that stipulate that life begins at the moment of fertilization. In Louisiana, the intentional removal or destruction of a human embryo is illegal
Haley, who has spoken generally about her personal struggles with fertility, said she used artificial insemination to have her son Nalin, the second of her two children.
Embryo selection for IVF shown under optical micrograph: Treatment overwhelmingly popular among Americans
‘The question I was asked was: ‘Do I believe an embryo is a baby?’ Haley said. ‘I think if you look at the definition, an embryo is considered a fetus. And yes, from my point of view I think that’s the case.’
And some other Republicans have maintained their support for the procedure, including Georgia’s Republican governor, Brian Kemp.
“There are a lot of people in this country who wouldn’t have children if it weren’t for that,” Kemp said.
Another Republican governor, Bill Lee of Tennessee, said this week that “I generally support IVF.”