IVF in the USA: A political dance

_{Image by Dusdn5959 from Wikimedia Commons}

Since the US Supreme Court's 2022 decision to overturn Roe v Wade (see BioNews 1147), there have been worries about the future of IVF in the USA. Both abortion and IVF involve decisions about the disposition of 'potential life'.

Concerns about IVF were heightened in February after the Alabama Supreme Court permitted a wrongful death case to proceed for the destruction of in vitroembryos (see BioNews 1208 and 1228).

In response to the Alabama ruling, the Alabama legislature quickly took action to provide some protection to IVF (see BioNews 1229) – and so have various members of the US Congress. While each individual state can enact its own laws, Congressional legislation would apply to all states.

So far this year, Congress has considered at least three different pieces of legislation related to IVF. None of these efforts has passed (nor have efforts to guarantee a right to contraception).

The first bill, the Access to Family Building Act, introduced by Senator Tammy Duckworth, would have established a statutory right...