State of the Union 2024: Democrats blast GOP over IVF and reproductive rights ahead of Biden address

Democratic senators are highlighting the dilemmas women are facing over reproductive rights, preemptively attacking Republicans over the matter ahead of President Joe Biden‘s third State of the Union address on Thursday night.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), along with Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Patty Murray (D-WA), and Brian Schatz (D-HI), held a press conference Thursday afternoon with their State of the Union guests, in which they blasted the Alabama Supreme Court decision that declared frozen embryos legally children.

The case put Republican lawmakers on the defense after in vitro fertilization facilities shut down to comply with the ruling, and it led most GOP members in Congress to affirm their support of IVF. Gov. Kay Ivey (R-AL) signed legislation into law shielding doctors who provide IVF services from legal liability on Wednesday.

“I’m here to say, as majority leader, we are going to preserve the right to IVF, and we’re not going to let these right-wingers take over,” Schumer said, standing next to his guest, Kate Farley, a lawyer from Westchester, New York, who conceived through IVF after she was diagnosed with a rare chromosomal problem that led to multiple miscarriages.

“Stories like Kate’s make the Alabama Supreme Court’s decision devastating,” Schumer said. “Republicans pushing that hard-right agenda that takes away reproductive health choices from families like Kate’s will not succeed.”

Duckworth, who conceived her children through IVF, called infertility “one of the most heartbreaking struggles of my life.” She then criticized Republicans who blocked legislation that would have protected IVF access.

“Last week, I tried to get the Senate to pass my Access to Family Building Act, legislation that will enshrine into law every American’s right to become a parent via treatments like IVF,” Duckworth said. “Republicans didn’t hesitate even a moment before blocking it despite the fact that they’d spent days prior shouting from the rooftops that they did support IVF. But their actions speak louder than their words. And their actions make it clear the hypocrisy and misogyny that defines today’s GOP.”

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) speaks about a bill to establish federal protections for IVF as Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), right, listens during a press event on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) The legislation, which required unanimous consent to pass, was blocked by Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) last week.

Hyde-Smith claimed the bill was “a vast overreach that is full of poison pills that go way too far, far beyond ensuring legal access to IVF.”

Senate Democrats also excoriated the GOP over attacks not just against IVF but birth control, abortion, and contraception, which have led to far-reaching consequences.

“Hospitals and doctors are terrified of providing the kind of care that will lose them their license or land them in jail,” Schatz said. “For instance, if you are an OB-GYN in a state like Texas, you might be forced to delay or deny treatment to a patient with an ectopic pregnancy. Because there’s enough gray area that the state can arbitrarily decide that you broke the law and punish you for providing care.”

The lawmakers were flanked by their State of the Union guests, which included several advocates of reproductive rights. Murray invited Kayla Smith, who, after learning her fetus had fatal anomalies, traveled from Idaho to Washington to receive an abortion due to Idaho’s abortion restrictions.

Schumer also invited Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood. Duckworth invited Illinois reproductive endocrinologist and infertility specialist Dr. Amanda Adeleye, while Schatz is bringing Olivia Manayan, an OB-GYN chief resident at the University of Hawaii who specializes in complex family planning.

First lady Jill Biden’s guests for the State of the Union include Latorya Beasley and her husband, an Alabama couple whose embryo transfer was canceled in the wake of the Alabama ruling. Biden also invited Kate Cox, the Texas woman who left the state to receive an abortion after she was denied access to the procedure.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) invited Elizabeth Carr, the first person in the United States born via IVF in 1981, as his guest.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Joe Biden is likely to discuss reproductive rights during the State of the Union, as the topic has become a successful electoral issue for Democrats after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Democrats beat back key losses during the 2022 midterm elections and the 2023 off-year elections by running on protecting abortion access.

Joe Biden is facing a general election rematch against former President Donald Trump, who appointed the three right-leaning justices who helped to strike down Roe. His campaign has begun attacking Trump’s abortion restrictions ahead of November.

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases