Republicans, Trump try to contain backlash from Alabama fertility ruling
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[February 24, 2024]
By James Oliphant and Joseph Ax
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump
and his party are scrambling to contain the fallout from a conservative
Alabama court ruling that prompted some state providers to suspend in
vitro fertilization treatments, while Democrats seized on the outcome as
more evidence that reproductive rights are under assault.
The Republican-controlled Alabama Supreme Court ruled on Feb. 16 that
frozen embryos should be considered children, a decision experts said
could embolden other states to follow suit.
With Republicans already playing defense on the issue of abortion rights
ahead of this year's election, they rushed on Friday to limit the damage
of the court's ruling.
In a statement on Friday, Trump called on the Alabama legislature to
find an immediate solution to preserve the availability of IVF
treatments in the state.
"I strongly support the availability of IVF for couples who are trying
to have a precious baby," the former president said in a post on Truth
Social.
Democrats, meanwhile, were looking to capitalize on the Alabama ruling.
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate,
told CNN on Friday that "abortion and IVF are going to be on the ballot
in November."
President Joe Biden and the White House have criticized the Alabama
ruling, with Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre saying on Friday that "IVF
is under attack" and calling on Congress to enact protections.
A White House source told Reuters there is very little the White House
can do legally through executive orders to challenge the Alabama ruling.
"The only option is to continue raising the issue, making it a political
fight and using the bully pulpit to get more attention," the source
said.
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After the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 abolished the constitutional right
to obtain an abortion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization,
the backlash for Republicans in the midterm elections was swift and
severe. Democrats were able to retain control of the Senate and limit
their losses in the U.S. House of Representatives.
With Biden facing strong headwinds in his re-election bid this year,
Democrats are hoping to leverage the abortion issue further to help
Biden secure a second term and boost their prospects in Congress. The
Alabama ruling could catalyze those efforts, strategists said.
"This is massive," said Jess McIntosh, a Democratic strategist who
advises campaigns on abortion-rights issues. "It's honestly landing with
a similar explosion to Dobbs."
McIntosh said she had been speaking with women in their 30s and 40s who
either have embryos or are counting on IVF to help them conceive and who
have been rattled by the decision.
"Women already get that this is enormous and terrifying," she said.
Anti-abortion groups such as Concerned Women for America have praised
the ruling. But it has been viewed with alarm by some Republicans who
argue that IVF and other fertility treatments are pro-family and should
not be lumped in with terminating pregnancies.
Republican governors such as Brian Kemp of Georgia, who signed a ban in
2019 restricting abortions in the state to six weeks, have come out in
support of IVF treatments.
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, a strong opponent of
abortion, spurred confusion about her position on the Alabama ruling,
initially suggesting she agreed but later saying that she does not want
to restrict fertility options.
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![](../images/022424PIX/news_r97.jpg)
Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald
Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Winthrop Coliseum ahead of
the South Carolina Republican presidential primary, in Rock Hill,
South Carolina, U.S., February 23, 2024. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
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"We don't want fertility treatments to shut down," she said on
Thursday.
STRONG IVF SUPPORT IN POLLS
Recent polls conducted by Republican strategist Kellyanne Conway,
who worked in the Trump White House, and shared with Reuters showed
widespread support for IVF and fertility treatments, even among
those who oppose abortion.
According to Conway's firm, 85% of all respondents and 86% of women
support increasing access to fertility-related procedures and
services for individuals facing challenges in conceiving, including
78% of people who consider themselves anti-abortion and 83% of
evangelicals.
More than 2% of all births in the U.S. occur as a result of assisted
reproductive technology, mostly through IVF, according to the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
IVF treatment typically involves the creation of multiple embryos in
order to maximize the chance of a successful pregnancy, leaving some
unused and eventually destroyed as medical waste.
But Friday's ruling held that such embryos are children and people
can be held liable for their destruction.
On Friday, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, an arm of
the party that supports Senate campaigns, warned candidates in
competitive races of the danger posed by the ruling, citing polls
such as Conway's.
"When responding to the Alabama Supreme Court ruling, it is
imperative our candidates align with the public's overwhelming
support for IVF and fertility treatments," said the memo from the
NRSC's executive director, Jason Thielman.
Dan Conston, the executive director of the Congressional Leadership
Fund, a political action committee that backs House Republican
candidates, agreed.
"It's useful and important for swing district Republicans to show
empathy, sympathy and clearly voice support for consensus positions
like IVF," Conston said in a statement.
Democrats pledged not to let Republicans off the hook.
"Republican Senate candidates have spent years opposing women's
right to make their most personal decisions about their health care
and their families, and voters will hold them accountable for their
record," said David Bergstein, a spokesperson for the Democratic
Senatorial Campaign Committee.
Greer Donley, a University of Pittsburgh law professor who focuses
on abortion law, said the Alabama decision may persuade voters that
Republicans will push for further restrictions on reproductive
rights if given the chance.
"This is truly the world we're in now," she said. "I think it is
really opening the public's eyes to the consequences here."
(Reporting by Joseph Ax and James Oliphant; Additional reporting by
Nandita Bose; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Rosalba O'Brien)
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