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Fertility treatments could be in jeopardy in anti-abortion states, IVF patients fear
Published by NPR – Read the full article here.
Some who are struggling to conceive worry that the battle over abortion could put fertility treatments like IVF in jeopardy. The argument that life begins at conception could restrict such processes.
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Some people struggling to conceive worry that the battle over abortion could eventually put treatments like in-vitro fertilization in jeopardy. That’s as some anti-abortion activists in states like Michigan, Texas and Louisiana attempt to make the argument that life begins at conception. Michelle Jokisch Polo of member station WKAR in East Lansing reports.
MICHELLE JOKISCH POLO, BYLINE: During IVF, eggs are collected from ovaries and fertilized by sperm in a lab to create as many viable embryos as possible. Those embryos are then tested to check for viability and anomalies and are then transferred to a uterus, discarded or frozen in a lab to be used at a future date. Now that process may be in jeopardy for hundreds of thousands who are relying on IVF to try to conceive in states with abortion bans in place.
Judith Daar specializes in reproductive health law at the University of Northern Kentucky. She says when the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling overturning Roe v. Wade made a reference to unborn humans, the issue of IVF was indirectly raised.
