Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz (R) is pushing back after a recent Alabama court ruling that has jeopardized IVF in the state.
The Alabama Supreme Court recently ruled that embryos have the rights of people following a lawsuit by a couple whose embryos were accidentally destroyed at a clinic. The judges ruled that the state's wrongful death laws do not exclude embryos, or what they deemed “extrauterine children.”
The decision prompted in vitro fertilization clinics in the state to pause the practice.
IVF is another form of conception whereby an egg is fertilized by sperm in a lab to create an embryo to implant in a uterus. Embryos are often frozen for later use or are destroyed if they go unused.
Gaetz was asked about the decision by CNN “NewsNight” host Abby Phillip.
“I believe the Alabama law needs to change because the Republican Party cannot be the party against family formation,” he said, adding:
Something is totally wrong. The people who want to have a family should have the government and the law on their side. And the notion that discarded embryos in an IVF somehow turn these people who want children and want families and want the American dream, into criminals is really wrong.
Phillip noted that the court's interpretation of the law has been praised by anti-abortion activists.
“They're wrong?” she asked.
“Pro-life means being pro IVF,” Gaetz responded. “And I've worked side-by-side with progressive Democrats like Sara Jacobs to make sure that our military members can have access to IVF in the event of deployment or other challenges to family formation. So, you're always going to find me on the side of family formation, not against family formation. I believe the Alabama legislature ought to amend their law so that IVF can occur safely in the Yellowhammer state.”
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