1/ Alabama lawmakers are considering “clarifying” legislation that would “protect” in vitro fertilization following the state Supreme Court’s ruling that embryos are children and protected under Alabama’s Wrongful Death of a Minor Act. With abortion and reproductive rights seen as a major liability for Republicans in 2024, the National Republican Senatorial Committee released talking points instructing Republicans to voice support for the procedure and distance themselves from the ruling. The state’s Republican attorney general said he “has no intention of using the recent Alabama Supreme Court decision as a basis for prosecuting IVF families or providers.” And, Trump called on the Alabama legislature to “act quickly to find an immediate solution to preserve the availability of IVF in Alabama” because Republicans “should always be on the side of the Miracle of Life — and the side of Mothers, Fathers, and their Beautiful Babies.” However, 125 House Republicans — including Speaker Mike Johnson — have cosponsored the “Life at Conception Act,” which clarifies that a “human being” includes “all stages of life, including the moment of fertilization, cloning, or other moment at which an individual member of the human species comes into being.” The bill doesn’t include an exception for in vitro fertilization. Democrats, meanwhile, accused Trump and the Republicans of trying to divert attention away from the role they played in overturning Roe v. Wade. The House Democrats’ main super PAC promised to pour money into attacking Republicans on fertility treatments. (New York Times / CNN / NBC News / Politico / Business Insider / Axios / Politico)
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2024/02/26/day-1133/