Republicans were, again, caught flat-footed this week after yet another state court decision related to reproduction. This time, an Alabama court held that parents could sue a fertility clinic under the state’s wrongful death statute after the clinic negligently allowed their frozen embryos to be destroyed by a third party.
Democrats and their loyal media allies quickly pounced on this decision, using it to ask Republicans if they supported the court’s decision to end in vitro fertilization in the state.
ALABAMA IVF CASE: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE CONTROVERSIAL OPINION
Nikki Haley fell into this trap, first saying about the decision: “Embryos, to me, are babies. When you talk about an embryo, you are talking about, to me, that’s a life. And so I do see where that’s coming from when they talk about that.”
She then later added: “We don’t want fertility treatment to shut down. We don’t want them to stop doing IVF treatment. We don’t want them to stop doing artificial insemination. But I think this needs to be decided by the people in every state. Don’t take away the rights of these physicians and these parents to have these conversations.”
What Haley, and all Republicans, should have said from the beginning is that this decision in no way threatens to end IVF in Alabama. The plaintiffs in this case are the parents of IVF children. They support IVF treatment. What they don’t support is the grossly negligent handling of embryos, which is what their lawsuit claims the fertility clinic is guilty of.
If you are against the negligent care of human embryos, then you should support this decision.
What Republicans should not under any circumstances say is what the National Republican Senatorial Committee is telling them to say, which is to “advocate for policies that increase access to fertility treatments, including insurance coverage and support services.”
Under no circumstances should any Republican be calling for the government to subsidize IVF treatments for anybody.
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If people want to spend thousands of dollars on IVF treatments, that’s fine. But the government is under no obligation to create babies for people. The couples in the Alabama case were all heterosexual married couples. But once a government right to IVF treatment is enshrined into law, you can expect single women and gay couples all to start demanding the government pay to create children for them. That would mean government-funded IVF treatments (which is what insurance mandates are) and government-funded surrogacy for gay men wouldn’t be far behind.
The government absolutely has the duty to protect life. It is under no obligation to create life for you.
