Senate Democrats to force a vote on enshrining IVF and other fertility treatments into law after Alabama ruling sparked outrage for 'effectively labeling' women seeking pregnancies as 'criminals'

A group of Senate Democrats plans to force a vote on a bill to protect access to in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and other fertility treatments after fertility clinics started pausing services following the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that embryos are children.

Senator Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., announced she will call on the Senate to set aside procedure and immediately pass the Access to Family Building Act through unanimous consent on the Senate floor Wednesday.

She made her announcement surrounded by other Senate Democrats on Tuesday who held a press conference to address the Alabama decision which has sparked outrage across the country and put thousands of families trying to have children through IVF in limbo.

'It may only be a matter of time before more hospitals make the same call, before more courts issue similar rulings putting more women at risk,’ Duckworth warned.

Last month, she along with Senators Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., introduced legislation that would protect a person’s right to access fertility services such as IVF and healthcare providers that provide such services.

Senate Democrats push bill protecting access to fertility treatment called the Access to Family Building Act after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled embryos are babies

Senator Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., said she will call for unanimous consent on her bill to protect access to IVF and other fertility treatment on the Senate floor on Wednesday. Duckworth said she would not have been able to become a mother if not for such treatment

The bill would also protect a person’s rights regarding the use or disposal of their reproductive genetic materials and would allow the Justice Department to pursue civil action against any state or government official that violates such protections.

Duckworth noted the issue is very personal to her. The senator and mother of two daughters is the first sitting senator to have a baby while in office. She noted she was only able to become a mom through IVF after her military service in Iraq.

Duckwoth blasted the ruling saying the people claiming to be ‘defending family values’ are actively trying to enact policies that would prevent Americans from creating those families.

The push by Senate Democrats to protect IVF is the latest effort as families, healthcare providers and officials have been scrambling in the wake of the bombshell Alabama ruling which raises concerns that clinics could be held liable for destroying fertilized eggs.

Some fertility clinics in Alabama have already paused treatments amid fear of prosecution as the ruling opened the door to wrongful death lawsuits in all cases where embryos do not survive being thawed and transferred to the uterus.

Embryo selection for IVF shown under a light micrograph - the treatment is overwhelmingly popular with Americans

The highlighted states have laws on the books stipulating that life begins at the moment of fertilization. In Louisiana, the intentional disposal or destruction of a human embryo is illegal

President Biden called the ruling ‘outrageous and unacceptable’ in a statement.

Democrats have slammed the decision as a direct result of the Supreme Court decision in 2022 to overturn Roe v Wade.

“Make no mistake: this ruling is a direct result of Donald Trump’s promise to overturn Roe v. Wade—and I’ve been warning that IVF would be next for years,’ Duckworth said on Tuesday.

She put the onus on Senate Republicans saying if they ‘truly care about the sanctity of families, then they need to show it by not blocking this bill.’

Republicans have been scrambling to reject the Alabama ruling.

Former President Donald Trump said he would ‘strongly support the availability of IVF’ and called on Alabama to find an immediate solution.

GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley said she sees frozen embryos as babies but later attempted to clarify that she did not say she agreed with the Alabama ruling.

Former President Trump called on Alabama to find a solution following the ruling and said he supports the availability of IVF treatment. Democrats say the AL ruling is the direct result of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade with the addition of three justices he appointed

Haley, who has talked in general terms about her personal struggles with fertility, said she used artificial insemination to have her son Nalin, the second of her two children. She said she views embryos as babies but later clarified she does not agree with the Alabama ruling 

The National Republican Senatorial Committee also told DailyMail.com that none of their candidates support a ban on IVF.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said in a statement following the court ruling that he supports IVF treatment. 

But he along with 124 other House Republicans backed the Life Begins at Conception bill last year. It does not include a carveout for IVF treatment, though it does state nothing in the bill should be ‘construed to authorize the prosecution of any woman for the death of her unborn child.’