WASHINGTON – Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, a Republican from Mississippi, blocked legislation Wednesday that would protect access to in vitro fertilization.
The measureSponsored by Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., it was brought to the floor by unanimous consent — meaning one senator could block the bill — and would have provided federal protections for IVF.
Duckworth’s action comes after the Alabama Supreme Court final judgment those embryos It is considered a child created through IVF.
The ruling has many doctors and families worried that IVF will become less accessible because people could theoretically be sued for destroying an embryo. During the IVF processthey are often discarded if the embryos have genetic abnormalities or after patients decide they no longer need to use them.
After the court’s decision, politicians from both parties expressed their support for protecting IVF.
Duckworth, who used IVF to give birth to her two daughters, said the Alabama ruling “depicts women like me and our doctors as criminals” and “has thrown IVF access into chaos as countless women and doctors try to figure out if they can be criminally prosecuted just for trying.” he said. create a family”.
He later called it “a nightmarish mix of hypocrisy and misogyny.”
“The people who claim to defend family values are the ones trying to introduce dystopian policies that will prevent Americans from starting their own families,” he said.
In her dissent, Hyde-Smith said the Alabama decision “does not ban IVF, and no other state has banned IVF.”
“The bill before us today is a huge overbroad poison pill that goes far beyond providing legal access to IVF,” he said.
A number of Republican politicians who say they believe life begins at conception, or who believe an embryo or fetus deserves all the rights of a person, have had to leave. explain your thoughts About IVF – a type of fertility treatment that is not a partisan issue.
State legislators in Alabama flutter to come up with an amendment to protect IVF practices in the light of the high court judgment there.
Democrats leaned politically on the issue; have used Republicans hammer on abortion — Conservative justices on the US Supreme Court in 2022 Roe v. An issue that has hurt the GOP in previous elections since he overturned the Wade case.
“This has always been about conservative politicians controlling women’s bodies,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said Wednesday. “This has been the plan of Donald Trump and the Republicans, and opposing Senator Duckworth’s proposal today shows that Republicans are doubling down on reproductive freedom. They’re coming for medical abortion, they’re coming for birth control, and they’re even coming for prenatal care. Make no mistake.”