IVF fallout: For U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan, the Alabama court ruling declaring frozen embryos used in the process of in vitro fertilization are children is a “gut punch.” The Massachusetts congresswoman and her husband used IVF to have their two daughters. While she doesn’t often talk about the physically and emotionally grueling process, the Westford Democrat is now opening up out of concerns for others struggling with fertility. “The idea of a family who has gone through every possible option before finally turning — or being about to turn— to IVF having that option ripped away from them is a pain I just can’t imagine,” Trahan told WBUR’s Dave Faneuf.
Zoom in: Currently, the impacts of the Feb. 16 ruling are limited to Alabama, where at least three providers have paused IVF treatments. (By declaring embryos to be “extrauterine children,” it raises the risks for IVF providers since frozen lab-grown embryos often don’t survive the process.) Republican elected officials in Alabama — and across the country — have responded by pushing to protect IVF.
How does IVF work? Why are so many frozen embryos created in the process? Read this explainer for more on the science.
Zoom out: Still, Trahan fears similar rulings could spread across red states, where anti-abortion activists have pushed to expand the definition of personhood. While Massachusetts saw an uptick in out-of-state abortion patients following the Supreme Court’s Dobbs ruling, Trahan says the logistics of traveling out of state for IVF would be “very difficult.” There’s federal legislation in Congress that would protect IVF, but Trahan says she doubts it will get a hearing or vote in the Republican-controlled House.
The local angle: Massachusetts native Elizabeth Carr — the first baby born via IVF in the U.S. — wrote a new essay published this morning for our Cognoscenti opinion section responding to the Alabama news: “For the first time in my 42 years of life, I feel like an endangered species.”
