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MONTGOMERY, Alabama (LifeSiteNews) — Despite having supermajorities in both their House and Senate, Alabama Republicans have voted overwhelmingly to protect the in vitro fertilization (IVF) industry after the state’s Supreme Court ruled unequivocally that frozen embryos are children.
Late Thursday, HB 237 passed by a 96-4 margin in the House, while the Senate passed SB 159 by a whopping 34-0.
The nearly identical companion bills share the same descriptive name: “In vitro fertilization; civil and criminal immunity provided for in vitro fertilization goods and services in certain circumstances.”
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The measures state that “no action, suit, or criminal prosecution shall be brought or maintained against any individual or entity providing goods or services related to in vitro fertilization.”
Alabama’s Republican governor Kay Ivey has already signaled that she will sign the finalized legislation into law when it reaches her desk.
Last week, citing the state’s “Wrongful Death of a Minor Act,” the Alabama Supreme Court concluded that the act “applies to all children, born and unborn, without limitation.”
Immediately following the ruling, at least three IVF providers in the state had halted providing IVF services, fearing legal jeopardy if embryos are either accidentally or purposefully destroyed.
Republicans fostering a culture of death via IVF
Whether wittingly or unwittingly, pro-life-identifying Republicans in Alabama, on Capitol Hill, and across the nation are helping to promote a culture of death via their misguided support for IVF.
Gov. Ivey said earlier this week that Alabama seeks “to foster culture of life, and that includes IVF,” while overlooking IVF’s mostly unspoken secret: Ninety-three percent (93 percent) of children created via IVF have been or will be disposed of as unwanted “medical waste.”
In reality, Ivey is working to foster a culture of death, not a culture of life, by supporting the IVF industry in her state.
Last week, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) made the same grave moral error when he came out in support of IVF, saying, “I believe the life of every single child has inestimable dignity and value.”
As such, Speaker Johnson’s declaration makes a far better case for ending the practice of IVF than it does for protecting it, as 93 percent of IVF-created children – millions of children – who have been or will be disposed of as unwanted waste have “inestimable dignity and value.”
Dr. Michael Sirilla, professor of theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville, told LifeSiteNews that “There’s a whole class of people being targeted for elimination for various reasons and one of those reasons is to select a child and to freeze or eliminate the rest. The destruction of embryos created by IVF is part of the genocide of abortion.”
Republicans snatch defeat from the jaws of victory
“The Alabama Supreme Court handed pro-lifers one of the greatest victories in our history, making it very clear that children are human deserving protection from the moment of conception,” wrote Katie Faust, founder and president of Them Before Us.
“If it had been an anti-abortion ruling, Republicans would’ve cheered. ‘Finally, a major institution that recognizes that children have a right to life!’ But because the ruling targeted the baby-making industry and not the baby-taking industry, Republicans balked,” said Faust.
“Why is that? Because it runs up against their own self interest and intersects much more heavily with their voter base,” she explained. “It’s no longer about ‘those people’ having abortions. It’s about ‘our people’ who employ these technologies – which annually result in the loss of more embryonic life than abortion.”
“It is unacceptable the Alabama Legislature has advanced a bill that falls short of pro-life expectations and fails to respect the dignity of human life,” said Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America in a joint statement with the Alabama Policy Institute.
Widespread GOP support to protect the IVF industry
The Alabamians are not alone.
Former President Trump, former Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, and a host of other conservative politicians and pundits have jettisoned their prolife bona fides, offering support for and glorifying the IVF industry.
U.S. House Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), sought co-sponsors this week for a resolution condemning the Alabama court ruling and urging strong support from Congress for the IVF industry.
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