Scott Eisen/Getty Images
Former President Donald Trump on Friday broke his silence on a controversial Alabama Supreme Court ruling that has threatened the future of access to in vitro fertilization.
"We want to make it easier for mothers and fathers to have babies, not harder! That includes supporting the availability of fertility treatments like IVF in every State in America," Trump wrote in a post on his social media platform, Truth.
Trump's comments come after the White House and Democrats have torn into Republicans over the Alabama ruling. The state's top court last week ruled that a couple who lost frozen embryos could sue under Alabama's wrongful death law. In the days following the ruling, top health care providers in Alabama began to suspend IVF services amid worries about potential legal ramifications.
"Make no mistake: this is because Donald Trump overturned Roe v. Wade," President Joe Biden's campaign account posted on X.
Earlier on Friday, The New York Times obtained a list of talking points from the Senate Republican campaign arm that urged GOP hopefuls to reject any restrictions on IVF. The top Republican official cited polling done by former Trump White House advisor Kellyanne Conway that showed IVF restrictions are deeply unpopular.
"NRSC encourages Republican Senate candidates to clearly and concisely reject efforts by the government to restrict IVF," National Republican Senatorial Committee executive director Jason Thielman wrote in a message to candidates.
According to a Pew Research Center poll, just over 1 in 4 US adults has used fertility treatments or knows someone who does. Dr. Zev Williams, director of the Columbia University Fertility Center, told CNN that about 2% of births in the US are a result of IVF — over 8 million babies.
Earlier in the week, a handful of GOP governors either directly criticized the ruling or stressed that their state did not have similar restrictions. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, who signed one of the nation's most restrictive abortion requirements into law, said he didn't think it would be a crime to destroy an embryo.
"That's how our system is set up," Stitt told Politico, saying that the US is based on allowing different states to reach other conclusions. "They elect their officials, and they're going to set up a system that's different than we would in Oklahoma."
This is far from the first time the GOP has been left to grapple with the political fallout of restrictions on reproductive health. The US Supreme Court sparked a political tidal wave when it overturned Roe v. Wade, gutting nationwide abortion rights — a decision made possible by Trump's three conservative appointments. Some antiabortion activists want to impose further restrictions on treatments like IVF.
Justice Jay Mitchell wrote in the Alabama ruling that it was not the court's job to question public policy, which it was applying in its opinion asserting that destroying an embryo was killing an unborn life.
"It is not the role of this Court to craft new limitation based on what our view on what is or is not wise public policy," Mitchell wrote.
Some Alabama Republicans are trying to rein in the ruling.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall's office said that he "has no intention of using the recent Alabama Supreme Court decision as a basis for prosecuting IVF families or providers." And Gov. Kay Ivey said she is working with state lawmakers "on a solution to ensure we protect these families and life itself."
