Current:Home > NewsBiden's top health expert travels to Alabama to hear from IVF families upset by court ruling -Infinite Edge Learning
Biden's top health expert travels to Alabama to hear from IVF families upset by court ruling
View
Date:2025-04-27 17:30:38
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama ‒ The Biden Administration dispatched its top healthcare expert here on Tuesday to meet with fertility doctors and families undergoing in vitro fertilization, days after the Alabama Supreme Court effectively halted the treatment in the state.
After meeting with affected families, federal Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra noted that the court's decision was possible only because the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 overturned Roe vs. Wade and permitted states to ban abortions. That ruling allowed states to pass what are known as "personhood" laws specifying that life begins at conception.
Alabama's court is the first one nationally to use a personhood law to potentially restrict IVF, under a law that overwhelmingly passed the state legislature and signed by Gov. Kay Ivey. Ivey on Tuesday said she expects state lawmakers to pass an exemption law soon protecting IVF.
“I think it’s become clear that this isn’t just about abortion," Becerra said. "I hope common sense will prevail."
Following the decision, several Alabama IVF providers announced they were halting procedures. In IVF, doctors remove eggs, fertilize them with sperm in a lab, and then implant that embryo back into the womb. It's an expensive and invasive procedure that typically requires months of medication and hormone shots.
The court's ruling repeatedly invoked Christian faith and the Alabama Constitution, which specifically protects unborn children, although that has typically referred to a developing fetus inside a womb.
The decision has been met with alarm internationally, with IVF advocates arguing the decision has far-reaching consequences for millions of people struggling to get pregnant.
And politically, the decision has put Republicans in a tough spot: Many self-described conservatives who have historically supported personhood laws to block abortion find themselves struggling to explain to their constituents how it might also block them from using IVF to have children.
President Joe Biden has condemned the ruling, and former President Donald Trump has called on the state's Republican leadership to protect IVF.
IVF mom LaTorya Beasley, who met with Becerra on Tuesday, said she was supposed to have a new embryo transfer next month, but doctors cancelled it following the decision.
“It is literally a gut punch," she said. "You don’t think it’ll happen to you until it does."
Added Rachel Charles, who has been trying to have an IVF child: "This affects real people, this affects real families."
HHS estimated in 2020 that there were at least 600,000 frozen embryos were in storage nationwide; the National Embryo Donation Center said the number could be 1 million. Nationally, about 2% of births a year involve IVF, or about 100,000 children.
veryGood! (32574)
Related
- 2 killed, 3 injured in shooting at makeshift club in Houston
- Ex-Philadelphia police officer sentenced to at least 8 years in shooting death of 12-year-old boy
- Southern California wildfire destroys and damages homes during scorching heat wave
- MLB power rankings: Angels' 12-month disaster shows no signs of stopping
- Toyota to invest $922 million to build a new paint facility at its Kentucky complex
- Truck driver charged in Ohio interstate crash that killed 3 students, 3 others
- Designer Hayley Paige reintroduces herself after regaining name and social media accounts after lengthy legal battle
- Legal fight continues with appeals over proposed immigration initiative for Arizona Nov. 5 ballot
- The FBI should have done more to collect intelligence before the Capitol riot, watchdog finds
- 72-year-old man picking berries in Montana kills grizzly bear who attacked him
Ranking
- Trump wants to turn the clock on daylight saving time
- Self-professed ‘Wolf of Airbnb’ sentenced to over 4 years in prison for defrauding landlords
- Olivia Rodrigo flaunts her sass, sensitivity as GUTS tour returns to the US
- Secret Service director says Trump assassination attempt was biggest agency ‘failure’ in decades
- Sarah J. Maas books explained: How to read 'ACOTAR,' 'Throne of Glass' in order.
- FACT FOCUS: A look at false claims around Kamala Harris and her campaign for the White House
- Bernice Johnson Reagon, whose powerful voice helped propel the Civil Rights Movement, has died
- The Best Flowy Clothes That Won’t Stick to Your Body in the Summer Heat
Recommendation
Biden administration makes final diplomatic push for stability across a turbulent Mideast
National bail fund returns to Georgia after judge says limits were arbitrary
National bail fund returns to Georgia after judge says limits were arbitrary
Trump says he thinks Harris is no better than Biden in 2024 matchup
The FBI should have done more to collect intelligence before the Capitol riot, watchdog finds
Diver Tom Daley Shares Look at Cardboard Beds in 2024 Paris Olympic Village
LSU cornerback Javien Toviano arrested on accusation of video voyeurism, authorities say
16 & Pregnant Alum Autumn Crittendon Dead at 27