The congressional proposal, known as the Life at Conception Act, defines a “human being” to “include each member of the species homo sapiens at all stages of life, including the moment of fertilization or cloning, or other moment at which an individual member of the human species comes into being.” The bill would also provide equal protection under the 14th Amendment “for the right to life of each born and preborn human person.”
The measure has no carveout for processes like IVF, meaning access to the procedure would not be protected. It would ban nearly all abortions nationwide.
The legislation is co-sponsored by 125 Republicans in the House, including Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) who, in the wake of the Alabama ruling, said in a statement to The Washington Post that he supports efforts to allow IVF treatments because he believes “the life of every single child has inestimable dignity and value.”
A spokesman for Johnson did not comment on the speaker’s support for the Life at Conception Act, or on whether the speaker would support a congressional effort to protect IVF procedures federally.
In November, Johnson told Fox News that he does not oppose access to fertility treatments.
“That’s something that’s blessed a lot of families who have problems with fertility,” he said. “Of course that’s a great thing. I would support that.”
The Alabama court’s ruling has already worried would-be parents as several of the state’s biggest IVF clinics have paused the creation of embryos out of fear of liability. Several lawmakers in the states are now scrambling to introduce bills that would allow for IVF.
On Sunday, Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) — who conceived her two children with the help of IVF and who has been a vocal proponent of reproductive rights — noted that “not a single Republican” has spoken to her about a bill she’s introduced that would establish a federal right to access IVF and other assisted reproductive technology services nationwide.
“It’s been crickets since the Alabama ruling,” Duckworth told ABC News’s “This Week.” “Let’s make it clear: Republicans will say whatever they need to say to try to cover themselves on this.”
Duckworth then challenged Republicans in Congress to pass a measure to protect IVF.
“Let’s see if they vote for it when we bring it to the floor,” she said.
The Life at Conception Act — the measure that would not protect IVF access — was reintroduced to Congress in January 2023 but it has not successfully been turned into law. No committee has held a hearing on it.
It is not the first time Republicans have introduced the bill. In 2021, it was co-sponsored by 167 Republicans, including Reps. Nancy Mace (S.C.) and Byron Donalds (Fla.), who are now voicing their support for IVF procedures. Mace and Donalds are not co-sponsors of the reintroduced effort.
Mace, in a post shared on X on Saturday, said she would “stop any and all efforts to ban IVF.” She, however, made no mention of her previous support for the Life at Conception Act. A spokeswoman for Mace did not respond to a request for comment.
Donalds — a far-right Republican who has been named in shortlists for former president Donald Trump’s potential vice-presidential picks — said on NBC News’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that he supports IVF because he has “several friends” who went through the procedure, which allowed them to have children. IVF, he said “is something that is so critical to a lot of couples. It helps them breed great families.”
“I totally support the procedure,” he said. “We really want the Alabama legislature to make sure that that procedure is protected for families who do struggle with having children, that helps them actually create great families, which is what our country desperately needs.”
When asked if he would support a congressional effort to protect IVF procedures at the federal level, Donalds said he would “broadly support that.” He did not refer to his previous support for Life at Conception Act. A spokesman for Donalds did not respond to a request for comment on Donalds’s position change.
The House members’ vocal support for IVF procedures comes after Trump and Republican candidates in key Senate races sought distance between themselves and the Alabama ruling. National Republican Senatorial Committee, the national group tasked with electing Republicans to the Senate, urged its candidates on the ballot this year to support IVF and reject government restrictions, citing the procedure’s popularity.
Democrats have signaled that they plan to leverage the ruling in the 2024 elections. The White House and the Biden reelection campaign have placed the blame on Trump and the Supreme Court’s decision. And the IVF issue is already becoming fodder for campaigns and fundraising groups.
While Democrats have particularly focused on Senate Republicans and Republican candidates’ shift in policy over IVF, Johnson’s statement also drew attention from Democratic operatives. In a statement Saturday, DNC spokesman Alex Floyd said Johnson “can’t run from the reality that he spent his entire career trying to outlaw basic access to reproductive health care.
“Now that they’ve succeeded in their cruel agenda, ripping away the promise of a family for so many women across Alabama, extremist Republicans are afraid they’ll be held accountable at the ballot box in November,” Floyd said. “No matter how hard they try to spin their extreme anti-choice records, the American people know the truth about Mike Johnson and Donald Trump: they’ll rip away our freedoms if they get the chance.”