Rep. Marc Molinaro, R-N.Y., became one of the first GOP members of Congress to support legislation defending in vitro fertilization treatment in the wake of an Alabama ruling holding frozen embryos to the same legal standard as children under state law.
Molinaro announced in a statement on Wednesday that he cosponsored the Access to Family Building Act, a bill that protects access to IVF given “millions of Americans rely on IVF to have children.”
The bill was introduced by Rep. Susan Wild, D-Pa., and companion legislation was introduced in the Senate by Sens. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill.
The Access to Family Building Act would establish a statutory right to access IVF, “overriding any state effort to limit services and ensuring no hopeful parent—or their doctors—are punished for trying to start or grow their family,” according to Molinaro’s office.
HOUSE REPUBLICAN DRAFTS BILL TO EXPAND ACCESS TO IN VITRO FERTILIZATION
Rep. Marc Molinaro, R-N.Y., leaves a meeting of the House Republican Conference at the Capitol Hill Club on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024 (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“I was troubled by and said at the time that I opposed Alabama’s ruling to limit IVF,” Molinaro said in a statement. “I’m a parent who has personal experience with IVF and support all women and families who choose IVF to bring life into this world. Protecting it is just commonsense.”
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican, signed a bill into law earlier this month protecting IVF treatments after a February decision by the state Supreme Court prompted some fertility clinics to pause their procedures.
A container with frozen embryos and sperm stored in liquid nitrogen is removed at a fertility clinic in Fort Myers, Fla., Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2018. The Alabama Supreme Court ruled, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024, that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)
The Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos created during fertility treatments should be considered as having the same status as children under state law in wrongful death lawsuits.
UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM PAUSES IN VITRO FERTILIZATION FOLLOWING STATE SUPREME COURT EMBRYO RULING
The ruling was issued in a pair of wrongful death cases brought by three couples whose frozen embryos were destroyed at a fertility clinic when a patient from the hospital walked into the storage area, removed the embryos from a cryogenic freezer and dropped them on the ground.
Former President Donald Trump gestures to supporters after speaking at a Get Out The Vote rally at Winthrop University on Feb. 23, 2024 in Rock Hill, South Carolina. He said he would support access to IVF after Alabama’s ruling. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
The decision resulted in a flury of warnings about the potential impact on fertility treatments and the freezing of embryos, which had previously been considered property by the courts.
Former President Trump said at a South Carolina rally in late February that he would “strongly support the availability of IVF” as the Alabama ruling reignited debate on abortion amid the 2024 presidential election.
Another House Republican, Rep. Mike Carey, R-Ohio, told Fox News Digital and Fox News Radio last week that he is is working on a bill to expand access to IVF for families who cannot afford the procedure.
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“It would give a tax incentive to help people that are less fortunate be able to do IVF, and I do think it’s something that’s important. Because I do think people that want children should be able to have the opportunity to have children, and IVF is [a] way to do it,” Carey said on Thursday.
Fox News’ Liz Elkind and the Associated Press contributed to this report.