Senators Murray, Duckworth, Schumer, Baldwin, Klobuchar Lead Press Conference Denouncing Alabama IVF Decision, Calling for Passage of Legislation to Protect Right to IVF

Statement

“First of all, thank you to Senator Duckworth who’s been such a champion on this issue and for your amazing words this morning.

Ever since IVF access in Alabama was thrown into jeopardy by Republicans’ extreme ideology, women have been sharing the most heartbreaking stories about how their dreams of becoming a mother have been turned into a complete nightmare.

Imagine going through years of trying to get pregnant, to no avail, maybe going through the heartbreak of a miscarriage, often, multiple times. Then turning hopefully to IVF, paying thousands—often tens of thousands—of dollars, taking your shots, allowing yourself to hope “maybe this time.

Only to have some right-wing judges pull the rug out from under you because they believe a frozen embryo kept in storage at an IVF clinic is the same—and should have the exact same rights—as a living, breathing, human person, because they want everything that’s happening in doctors’ offices and fertility clinics to conform to their extreme ideology—one that would make services like IVF impossible.

My heart truly goes out to all of the women in Alabama who are suffering right now.

And let’s get one thing straight—Republicans cannot pretend this is some surprise.

Republicans fought for decades to overturn Roe, knowing full well it would create situations like this.

Democrats have been warning about this for years.

It’s been incredible to watch Republicans now scramble over the weekend to suddenly support IVF while many of these same Republicans are literally, right now, cosponsors of legislation that would enshrine fetal personhood—the very concept that caused all of the chaos in Alabama—and would make IVF unavailable nationwide.

You cannot support IVF and support fetal personhood laws. They are fundamentally incompatible! You are not fooling anyone!

Women aren’t just going to ‘forget’ who is responsible for this—who ripped away their dreams of building their families.

“This is what happens when Republican politicians take away women’s power over their own bodies.

 

“This is not hyperbole. This is not hypothetical. This is happening.

“If Republicans seriously want to help fix the chaos and devastation they have worked so hard to create they can help us restore the rights enshrined in Roe—which they overturned to make all this possible—and they can help us pass legislation to protect and expand IVF care.

“And our bill—the Access to Family Building Act—is a great place to start.

“It just does not get more straightforward than this: if Republicans seriously support the right to build families through IVF, they can prove it tomorrow on the floor.”

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