Joe Biden rebukes Alabama Supreme Court's IVF ruling as ‘outrageous’ and ‘disregard' for women
Kamala Harris blames Trump's Supreme Court picks, and the Biden-Harris duo vows to fight for Roe v. Wade restoration.
The Alabama state supreme court’s ruling that embryos used for IVF are “children” under the law has drawn a strong rebuke from Joe Biden, who said that this and other attacks on reproductive rights by the right-wing are “a direct consequence of the reversal of Roe v Wade”.
The state court’s ruling, which declared that embryos created through IVF are children under Alabama law, has led to the suspension of IVF treatments at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The ruling also raised legal questions over the fate of unused embryos that are typically discarded or donated in the IVF process.
Biden issued a statement on Thursday afternoon, denouncing the state court’s ruling as a “direct result” of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. This landmark 1973 ruling established a constitutional right to abortion.
This new ruling is ‘disregard for women’s ability’: Biden
“Today, in 2024 in America, women are being turned away from emergency rooms and forced to travel hundreds of miles for health care, while doctors fear prosecution for providing an abortion. And now, a court in Alabama put access to some fertility treatments at risk for families who are desperately trying to get pregnant,” Biden said.
“The disregard for women’s ability to make these decisions for themselves and their families is outrageous and unacceptable.”
The president vowed that he and Kamala Harris would continue to fight for reproductive rights and “won’t stop until we restore the protections of Roe v. Wade in federal law for all women in every state.”
Harris echoes Biden
Harris echoed Biden’s sentiments at a roundtable event on abortion access in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Thursday, where she slammed the Alabama ruling and pointed the finger at Trump.
“On the one hand, the proponents are saying that an individual doesn’t have a right to end an unwanted pregnancy and on the other hand, the individual does not have a right to start a family,” she said.
ALSO READ| Nikki Haley supports Alabama SC's ruling that embryos are children: ‘To me, that’s a life’
“Ask who’s to blame,” she added later. “And I’ll answer that question: When you look at the fact that the previous president of the United States was clear in his intention to hand-pick three Supreme Court justices who would overturn the protections of Roe v. Wade. And he did it. And that’s what got us to this point today.”
Biden’s campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, also blamed Trump for the state court’s ruling, saying that it was only possible because of the conservative justices he appointed to the Supreme Court.
“What is happening in Alabama right now is only possible because Donald Trump’s Supreme Court justices overturned Roe v. Wade,” Rodriguez said in a statement on Thursday morning.
“Across the nation, MAGA Republicans are inserting themselves into the most personal decisions a family can make, from contraception to IVF.”
ALSO READ| Alabama court rules frozen embryos are ‘children’; here's how it may affect IVF across US
“With their latest attack on reproductive freedom, these so-called pro-life Republicans are preventing loving couples from growing their families,” she said.
“If Donald Trump is elected, there is no question that he will impose his extreme anti-freedom agenda on the entire country.”