CV NEWS FEED // Politicians and observers from across the political spectrum are weighing in on last week’s Alabama Supreme Court ruling which held that frozen embryos are children under state law.
Biden Campaign: ‘Outrageous and Unacceptable’
President Joe Biden Wednesday called it “outrageous and unacceptable” that a state affirmed the human rights of human embryos conceived via in vitro fertilization (IVF).
“[N]ow, a court in Alabama put access to some fertility treatments at risk for families who are desperately trying to get pregnant,” Biden wrote in a statement.
He claimed that the ruling demonstrates the “disregard for women’s ability to make these decisions for themselves and their families.”
“Make no mistake: this is a direct result of the overturning of Roe v. Wade,” Biden indicated.
On a similar note, Biden Campaign Manager Julie Chávez Rodriguez blamed the development on likely general election opponent, former President Donald Trump.
“What is happening in Alabama right now is only possible because Donald Trump’s Supreme Court justices overturned Roe v. Wade,” stated Rodriguez, who oversees the unpopular president’s struggling re-election bid.
“With their latest attack on reproductive freedom, these so-called pro-life Republicans are preventing loving couples from growing their families,” Biden’s campaign chief went on.
“If Donald Trump is elected, there is no question that he will impose his extreme anti-freedom agenda on the entire country,” Rodriguez added.
>> ALABAMA SUPREME COURT RULES FROZEN EMBRYOS ARE CHILDREN <<
WaPo’s Claims of ‘Theocracy’
Washington Post Associate Editor Ruth Marcus penned a Tuesday op-ed in the paper where she purported that the Alabama Supreme Court’s overwhelming decision to recognize that human embryos have human rights is a sign that the state is a “theocracy.”
“I don’t use that word lightly, not about life in the United States,” Marcus alleged.
She went on to suggest that Justice Tom Parker’s concurring opinion was evidence that the nature of the ruling was “theocratic.”
Specifically, Marcus pointed to Parker’s reference to the fact that “God made every person in His image” and that “each person therefore has a value” to make her claim that Alabama is “usher[ing] in the theocracy.”
Nikki Haley: ‘I Didn’t Mean I Agreed With’ It
Trump’s remaining high-profile Republican challenger appeared to initially support the ruling, only to quickly walk back her remarks.
“Embryos, to me, are babies,” former Ambassador Nikki Haley said during a Wednesday NBC interview.
“When you talk about an embryo, you are talking about, to me, that’s a life,” she continued. “And so I do see where that’s coming from when they talk about that.”
However, later in the same day, Haley told CNN that she did not mean to agree with the court’s decision.
“Well, first of all, I didn’t — I mean, this is again, I didn’t say that I agreed with the Alabama ruling,” the politician stated.
“What the question that I was asked is, ‘Do I believe an embryo is a baby?’” Haley continued:
I do think that if you look in the definition, an embryo is considered an unborn baby. And so, yes, I believe from my stance that that is.
The difference is — and this is what I say about abortion as well — we need to treat these issues with the utmost respect.
Other Republicans React
At a Thursday POLITICO summit, Republican governors expressed a range of reactions to the ruling.
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu characterized the landmark decision as “scary.” Sununu is a pro-abortion Republican and self-professed Catholic.
“You want to make sure [IVF] services are accessible,” he told POLITICO.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp appeared to be more calculated in his remarks.
“You have a lot of people out there in this country that they wouldn’t have children if it weren’t for that,” he said of IVF.
Unlike Sununu, Kemp has amassed a pro-life gubernatorial record. In fact, he was one of the first governors to sign a “heartbeat” bill into law – three years before the Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade.
Meanwhile, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee indicated that while he did not know “the details of [the Alabama] case and ruling, he is “generally … supportive of IVF.”
The End of IVF?
Shortly following the ruling, many observers noted that the Alabama Supreme Court might have spelled the end of IVF in the state.
A Wednesday report by National Public Radio (NPR) confirmed that this might be the case.
“The University of Alabama at Birmingham hospital, or UAB, has announced doctors there will not be doing any more IVF, or in vitro fertilization treatments,” NPR wrote.
UAB is the largest hospital in the state.
