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GOP: IVF Embryos are Babies Now

February 23, 2024
Lupe M. Rodríguez from the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice explains what could happen now that Alabama’s highest court has decided frozen embryos are actually children.
the details
In an 8-1 decision, Alabama’s Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are “extrauterine children.” This ruling stems from three couples’ wrongful death lawsuits against an IVF clinic after a patient killed their stored embryos. While their...
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Show transcript
00:00
Hey sister, what do you have there?
00:02
Oh, my frozen embryos.
00:03
But according to Alabama,
00:04
these are considered Children.
00:06
Wait, what do you mean by Children?
00:07
Yes, brother. There's a lot happening in Alabama and it's
00:12
affecting in vitro fertilization.
00:15
Lupe Rodriguez, the executive director of the National Latina Institute for
00:19
Reproductive Justice is here to give us the full update.
00:23
Hi, Lupe, welcome.
00:25
Hi. Thank you for having me.
00:27
Thank you so much for coming on.
00:29
And so what is happening with IVF in Alabama?
00:33
The Alabama Supreme Court ruled this week that frozen embryos are considered
00:38
Children. Basically, it's criminal act to dispose of frozen embryos
00:43
fertility clinics and places that provide in vitro fertilization are ceasing
00:48
their operations for fear of being criminalized for doing the kind of
00:53
or providing the kind of care that they do.
00:56
And it's concerning for the rest of the country and access
00:59
to reproductive health care.
01:01
not just for Alabamians but but for folks all around the
01:04
country and, and who will this impact the ruling directly impacts
01:09
the hundreds of Alabamians who seek invert fertilization care every year.
01:15
Really, you know,
01:16
pushing that care out of reach for them.
01:18
It's making it more expensive,
01:19
of course, and it's making it harder for people who
01:23
are trying to build their families to do so.
01:24
And, and then currently families are concerned that they're unable to
01:28
make decisions about their embryos.
01:31
In our perspective, working with Latinos across the country,
01:35
We know that Latinos are already disproportionately impacted by abortion
01:41
bans by other kinds of restrictions on their reproductive health choices.
01:45
And this ruling, you know,
01:47
only increases the number of of barriers that already exist in
01:52
front of them to be able to make reproductive health decisions for
01:54
themselves and their families.
01:56
And is this going to happen elsewhere?
01:59
Like can this happen in other states?
02:02
And I think, I think our concern is definitely that this
02:05
is these kinds of laws that give personhood rights to
02:11
embryos are a part of what many organizations like mine and
02:17
other activists that have been fighting for reproductive justice have been fighting
02:20
against for a long time.
02:22
These kinds of,
02:23
of laws are not new.
02:25
There have been several states across the country in which
02:29
anti abortion activists have tried to pass these kinds of laws.
02:34
And so they signal you know,
02:37
this signals a a win for these folks who,
02:39
who have been trying to pass these laws across the country.
02:43
So, yes,
02:43
the expectation that we have is that this will this trend will
02:46
continue and, and that it will be attempted in other parts
02:49
of the country and other states as well.
02:52
Really scary.,
02:53
what can voters do if they don't want this to happen in
02:57
their state? So we have an election this year,
03:00
that has contests,
03:01
at the local level,
03:02
at the state level,
03:03
at the federal level.
03:05
I think it's super important that folks are activated and
03:08
and, and go out to vote.
03:10
because the decisions that we make in these elections have
03:15
a direct impact on,
03:16
on how how these laws can go into effect.
03:20
I think it's also important for folks to talk about this
03:23
right? Like,
03:24
I think across the country,
03:26
these kinds of laws or attempts at passing these kinds of
03:30
laws have, have been happening and,
03:33
you know, and in this case,
03:34
you know, they're affecting specifically in vitro fertilization clinics because abortion
03:38
is already illegal in the state of Alabama.
03:41
But in places where abortion is not illegal at this
03:45
point in time, in the country,
03:47
this, this kind of law could make it illegal.
03:50
And it really,
03:51
you know, ties back into this,
03:53
this ploy that we have seen for anti abortion activists to
03:58
pass this kind of law to be able to criminalize abortion nationwide
04:02
And that has been,
04:03
you know, what they've wanted to do all along.
04:06
And so, so we're really concerned about that.
04:09
Well, thank you so much,
04:10
Lupe. We really appreciate,
04:11
you know, your you being on the show.
04:13
And I also wanted to ask where can people find you?
04:17
Oh, well, folks can find me personally at,
04:19
at Lupe and Rodriguez on both Twitter and Instagram and they can
04:23
find our organization Latina Institute at,
04:26
at Latina Institute on Instagram and Twitter as well.
04:29
Amazing. Thank you so much for your time.
04:31
I appreciate it. Thank you and enjoy your Friday.
04:34
Yes. Happy Friday.
04:35
Happy Friday.