The recent Alabama Supreme Court decision that unimplanted embryos are “children” has resulted in in vitro fertilization (IVF) care stopping in some clinics in Alabama. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine has responded in a public statement condemning the ruling as “profoundly misguided” and one that “flies in the face of medical reality.”
No matter anyone’s personal, political or religious beliefs, Americans who desperately want to have children are fearful of the potential loss of access to IVF care when attempts at other means of childbearing have not succeeded. We at Reproductive Science Center of New Jersey stand with those intended parents.
So far, the court’s ruling appears to have affected only Alabama clinics and patients. In addition, lawmakers there are reportedly working to propose legislation to prevent the recognition of frozen embryos as human life.
In addition, a bill has been introduced in the U.S. Congress to protect IVF healthcare providers and keep IVF legal.
If you wish to support such efforts, here is what you can do:
- Contact your U.S. Senator and U.S. Representative to ask them to SUPPORT the Access to Family Building Act (S.3612/ H.R.7056). Consider calling also – the more emails/calls they get the better.
- Find your state elected officials to write an email asking them to 1) Support IVF access in your state; 2) NOT pass legislation that gives embryos personhood rights; and 3) To keep state government out of family building patient/doctor discussions.
- More information on how to advocate for yourself as an infertility patient is also available on the website of RESOLVE, The National Infertility Association.