Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked an effort by Democrats to protect access to in-vitro fertilization (IVF) following the Alabama supreme court ruling that frozen embryos created through IVF are “babies.”
Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth (Ill.), whose two children were conceived through IVF, tried to pass the bill by unanimous consent, meaning it takes just one senator to object to successfully block the effort.
Mississippi Republican senator Cindy Hyde-Smith objected to the bill’s passage for a bizarre reason.
“It would legalize the creation of human-animal chimeras,” Hyde-Smith said in a speech on the Senate floor.
“It would legalize human cloning,” she continued. “It would legalize commercial surrogacy, including for young girls without parental involvement. It would legalize gene edited designer babies and lift the federal ban on the creation of three parent embryos.”
Duckworth said Hyde-Smith is misinterpreting the bill.
“It does not force anyone to seek reproductive technology. It does not force anyone to offer it. It does not force anyone to cover it. It simply says you have a statutory right should you choose to pursue assisted reproductive technology,” Duckworth said.
While Republicans block efforts to protect access to IVF at the federal level, clinics in Alabama have stopped offering IVF services over fears that they could be held liable for wrongful death if something happens to embryos at one of their facilities.
