Pro-life leaders call for veto to IVF legislation

Leaders from nearly a dozen pro-life organizations sent a letter on Monday asking Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey to veto legislation that would grant blanket immunity to in vitro fertilization providers. The state’s House of Representatives and Senate have passed bills designed as legal protections to keep IVF programs active in Alabama.

IVF programs across the state paused procedures out of concern for increased liability after the state’s Supreme Court ruled that fertilized frozen embryos are legally protected as unborn children. The ruling allowed some parents to sue a clinic for damages under the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act after embryos were destroyed during a break-in.

Will the governor sign the bills? Ivey’s spokeswoman, Gina Maiola, expects the legislation to hit her desk this week. “We look forward to the governor signing it into law,” she told WORLD in a written statement.

Why are pro-lifers against bills meant to protect IVF? The letter argues that the full civil and criminal immunity granted under the recently passed legislation goes overboard, preventing regulation of the practice. The legislation would “slam the door on any protections” for families using IVF and could shield cases of misconduct, such as “a doctor who secretly uses his own sperm to create embryos.” The groups signing the letter assert that many Alabamans share the same concerns. The signees “implore the elected officials of Alabama to slow down and study the ethical implications” of passing either bill.

Was the court ruling against IVF? A Research Associate at the Heritage Foundation’s DeVos Center for Life, Religion, and Family Emma Waters, pushed back against the popular narrative that the Alabama court ruling was against IVF. “We want to empower parents from a largely unaccountable fertility industry and protect the life of the unborn children,” she said in an interview. Waters explains that IVF is “largely unregulated through federal and state law,” and legal protections for patients and unborn babies are needed. Despite concern that the regulation of IVF may cause programs to shut down, Waters said states could have successful IVF programs while legally protecting the unborn. For instance, she said, Louisiana in 1986 issued a protection against intentionally destroying fertilized embryos.

Dig deeper: Read Leah Savas' story in Vitals about how the Alabama ruling on IVF has been largely misunderstood.