The latest legal challenges to IVF

When Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, the constitutional right to an abortion was taken away. Unbeknownst to many of us, this also opened the doors to questioning other reproductive rights, such as IVF. In this week’s newsletter, we break down the latest legal challenges to IVF and what you need to know.

I’m confused, what does IVF have to do with abortions?

Good question. It all comes back to the question of when life begins (deep, we know). Many anti-abortion activists believe that life begins immediately after conception, or once an egg is a fertilized embryo, a concept often referred to as “fetal personhood.” Many people on the pro-choice side believe life begins much later and that women have a right to decide about the health care related decisions for their own bodies. And there are many people and laws who define life’s beginning somewhere in between these two camps, often when a baby can survive outside of the womb on their own.

Still confused… 

Okay, a big part of IVF is creating embryos. Essentially, a woman’s eggs are retrieved through a minor surgical process and then fertilized with sperm outside her body in a lab environment. Unlike egg freezing where only eggs are frozen and stored, IVF involves fertilizing those eggs with sperm, assessing the quality of the resulting embryos, and implanting the embryos back into the uterus of the mother or surrogate. At this stage in medicine’s precision, to increase the chances of pregnancy, doctors often create multiple embryos and choose only one or two to implant. So, though this is all done in a doctor’s office or a lab, the concept of “fetal personhood” can stretch to mean that the embryos themselves are children and destroying them is murder. 

 Oh...this is feeling more like a Law & Order episode now

In February, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that embryos created using IVF are covered under the “Wrongful Death of a Minor Act”, stating that the act covers “all unborn children.” This decision essentially meant that fertility clinics had to follow the same protocols when handling embryos as a daycare does with children. AKA if a lab were to destroy embryos accidentally or purposefully, they could be charged with murder. Worried about their own liability, clinics suspended IVF treatments, which was met with a backlash across the state.

People weren’t happy about this huh?

Nope. IVF is very popular. Unlike abortion, it was previously not thought to be in legal or political danger. After the backlash in Alabama, the state quickly passed another law protecting clinics from the legal risks and IVF treatments began to resume. 

So what’s the TLDR?

Reproductive rights are inherently complicated. On the surface, abortions and IVF might feel like two very different issues, but they still grapple with the same questions of “when does life begin?” and “how much say do people have over their reproductive choices?”

How does this impact me?

Anticipate both abortion rights and IVF to be an issue in the 2024 presidential elections. Though Trump was a proponent of overturning Roe vs. Wade, both candidates have voiced their support for IVF. In an election and time in society when it feels like we have more differences than commonalities, we’re glad that IVF is one of the rare cases where many people from both sides of the aisle agree.

Upcoming Newsletter Editions:

• Fertility and your diet

• Considering pregnancy with PCOS

• IVF 101

Make sure you don’t miss future editions by subscribing to The Grapevine now!

*The information provided is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or any other qualified healthcare provider with questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment.