- Written by Phil McCausland and Francesca Gillette
- BBC news
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Nikki Haley slightly withdraws support for Alabama ruling
An Alabama court's ruling that frozen embryos produced during infertility treatments are children is an election-year opportunity for Democrats and a political headache for Republicans.
US President Joe Biden's party is already campaigning on the issue, positioning the November vote as a fight over reproductive rights.
For Republicans, the latest uproar could pose a hurdle in their carefully laid plans to win back suburban women and sway voters.
Since last week's ruling, at least three fertility clinics in Alabama have suspended in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures.
The all-Republican justices ruled that frozen embryos produced through in vitro fertilization are considered children under state law.
The ruling does not ban or restrict in vitro fertilization, but several health care providers in the state cited concerns about the legal implications of suspending fertility services in recent days.
On Thursday, President Biden blamed the ruling on his predecessor, Donald Trump, who is likely to be challenged by Republicans in this year's election.
Biden posted on X (formerly Twitter) that the Alabama ruling is only possible because of the 2022 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, filled by three Trump appointees, invalidating abortion rights. He said it had become.
While many conservatives celebrated the end of Roe v. Wade, it proved to be a powerful incentive to vote for Democrats and a nightmare message for Republicans.
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Joe Biden called Alabama ruling 'outrageous'
Biden's party will hope that the Deep South backlash over IVF will energize its electoral base as much as the abortion issue.
Democrats are already portraying the Alabama incident as a harbinger of further attacks on women's rights if their rivals advance in the next general election.
Vice President Kamala Harris accused Republicans of hypocrisy on Thursday during a stop in Grand Rapids, Michigan on her “Fight for Reproductive Freedom” tour.
“Proponents argue on the one hand that individuals do not have the right to terminate unwanted pregnancies, and on the other hand that individuals do not have the right to start a family,” she told the audience.
A Pew survey last year found that 42% of Americans have undergone IVF treatment or know someone who has. This percentage increases with income, from 45% for middle-income Americans to 59% for high-income Americans.
These people are likely to be white Americans who vote Republican, many of whom Mr. Trump hopes to bring back into the political fold after losing support in 2020.
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Democrats have remained silent about the ruling so far.
Controversy over IVF could well derail that effort.
“In other words, limiting IVF would be unpopular even among conservative and Republican voters, an extreme position not shared by most Americans,” said Shana Ghadarian, a political science professor at Syracuse University. ” he said.
Trump has so far remained silent on the matter. Other Republicans have either avoided the issue entirely or pivoted to compromise, distancing themselves from a small number of hardline conservatives who support restricting access to sterilization and contraception.
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, a moderate Republican, spoke at the Politico Governors Summit on Thursday and called the Alabama ruling “horrifying.”
“I haven't studied this issue,” South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, a potential Trump running mate, told reporters Thursday.
Nikki Haley, Trump's final challenger for the Republican White House nomination, initially agreed after an Alabama court ruled that a fetus is an infant.
She backtracked slightly on Thursday, telling CNN that embryos should be protected but that Alabama “needs to go back and review its laws.”
“We don't want infertility treatment to be abolished. We don't want in vitro fertilization treatment to be abolished,” said Hayley, who gave birth to two children through infertility treatment.
On Thursday, even anti-abortion groups appeared divided at the Conservative Political Action Conference, one of the largest annual gatherings of Republican voters.
Jessica Andreae, executive director of pro-life organization Pro-Love Ministries, told the BBC at an event near Washington DC that she agrees with an Alabama court that embryos should be considered human lives. But he added that it was “a very complex issue for me.” ”.
“I have a friend who had two precious children through infertility treatment,” she said. “And every human life, no matter how it comes into this world, is a gift.”
How Republicans manage this balance could be crucial as the presidential election approaches.
