Among the hundreds of guests who will fill the House chamber Thursday night — each invited to telegraph separate policy messages — will be dozens of reproductive rights advocates and providers invited by Democrats who want to put access to abortion and fertility treatments front and center. in focus. election year.
Twenty-eight Democrats in the House and at least seven in the Senate chose their guests for their experiences in reproductive health or advocacy backgrounds. They include the first person born in the United States through IVF, women who relied on IVF to become pregnant, abortion providers and women who were denied abortions by state bans after learning of fatal fetal abnormalities or developing health-threatening conditions and their fertility. .
It’s all part of an effort by Democrats to emphasize their support for reproductive rights while capitalizing on tight restrictions imposed by Republican-led states since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. It’s also a way to highlight how Republicans — many of whom have supported abortion bans and the concept of fetal personhood — have supported policies that could jeopardize access to abortion and fertility treatments.
“It’s the fight of our lives. We have Republicans — they want to either force women to get pregnant or prevent women from getting pregnant,” said Rep. Lois Frankel of Florida, who called Dr. Cherise Felix, an OB-GYN who escaped Tennessee’s abortion ban to practice at a Planned Parenthood in West Palm Beach. “The threat of Donald Trump is real. It overturned Roe v. Wade and we know Joe Biden will be a warrior for us.”
After the Alabama Supreme Court ruled last month that frozen embryos must be considered children, a decision that jeopardized access to IVF in the state, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Virginia, called Elizabeth Carr — the first American which was captured in a laboratory. Ms. Carr was born in 1981 in Norfolk, Virginia. (Alabama lawmakers passed a law Wednesday to protect IVF providers from criminal and civil liability.)
“It is more important than ever that we commit to protecting access to IVF services nationwide,” Mr. Kaine said in a statement.
Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, the No. 2 House Democrat, called Amanda Zurawski, a plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging Texas’ abortion ban, who was allowed to undergo the procedure only after suffering septic shock when her water broke in the 18th week of pregnancy. On Thursday, Ms. Zurawski said she turned to IVF to start a family after an infection in her previous pregnancy compromised her fertility, and she moved her frozen embryos out of state after the Alabama decision, fearing she could to have a similar restriction. down in Texas.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, called Kayla Smith, who spent thousands of dollars traveling there for an abortion in 2022, after she was denied an abortion in Idaho after discovering her baby — who she stressed Thursday was “highly wanted » – had fatal abnormalities. Ms. Smith is a plaintiff in a lawsuit filed in September challenging Idaho’s abortion ban.
Ms. Murray said it was of the utmost importance that Democrats “shine a light on the horrific consequences of Republican abortion bans that have taken away a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions.”
Democrats in Congress have introduced legislation to codify federal abortion rights and protect access to IVF, but have faced opposition from Republicans. Last week, Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Mississippi, blocked quick passage of a bill to protect access to fertility treatments.
“It’s really clear who stands up for women and trusts women to make decisions about their own bodies and their own health care — it’s the Democrats,” said Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois, who called Dr. Amanda Adeleye, a reproductive endocrinologist. “So my reminder to voters is to remember who is looking out for your reproductive rights. They’re definitely not Republicans.”
