OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump may not agree on much, but they have found common ground on an issue that appears to be galvanizing the country.
Earlier this month, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled 8-1 that frozen embryos constitute children under a state statute, a ruling that is likely to have wide-ranging effects on in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments in the state.
Several parents who had their frozen embryos destroyed at a fertility clinic filed a lawsuit, which led to the decision.
The state high court ruled that Alabama’s Wrongful Death of a Minor Act provisions extend to children “regardless of their location.”
“It applies to all children, born and unborn, without limitation,” the ruling said, noting further that this is “especially true where, as here, the people of [Alabama] have adopted a constitutional amendment directly aimed at stopping courts from excluding ‘unborn life’ from legal protection.”
Trump voiced his disapproval of the ruling on his Truth Social platform:
Under my leadership, the Republican Party will always support the creation of strong, thriving, healthy American families. We want to make it easier for mothers and fathers to have babies, not harder! That includes supporting the availability of fertility treatments like IVF in every State in America. Like the OVERWHELMING MAJORITY of Americans, including the VAST MAJORITY of Republicans, Conservatives, Christians, and Pro-Life Americans, I strongly support the availability of IVF for couples who are trying to have a precious baby. Today, I am calling on the Alabama Legislature to act quickly to find an immediate solution to preserve the availability of IVF in Alabama. The Republican Party should always be on the side of the Miracle of Life – and the side of Mothers, Fathers, and their Beautiful Babies. IVF is an important part of that, and our Great Republican Party will always be with you, in your quest, for the ULTIMATE JOY IN LIFE!
In a statement, Biden also said he disagreed with the Alabama ruling and supported IVF procedures.
“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. The disregard for women’s ability to make these decisions for themselves and their families is outrageous and unacceptable,” he said, going on to blame the Alabama ruling on the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, though the Alabama justices based their decision on state law.
Vice President Kamala Harris, meanwhile, went after Trump directly, writing on the X platform that “no matter what Donald Trump says about IVF,” he is “the architect of this health care crisis.”
In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe in June 2022 after ruling that the issue should have never been taken away from the states.
“Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” Justice Samuel Alito, who authored the opinion, wrote.
“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” he added. “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”
“We, therefore, hold the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion. Roe and Casey must be overruled, and the authority to regulate abortion must be returned to the people and their elected representatives,” Alito added.
In early May of that year, a draft majority opinion written by =Alito was leaked to Politico, and it set off a firestorm.
Before the official ruling being announced, Supreme Court officials launched a probe into identifying the source of the leaked draft opinion, which included asking law clerks to provide cell phone records and sign affidavits.
The court never revealed who the leaker was, however.