Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has voiced a similar stance to former President Donald Trump in the wake of a ruling on embryos from the Alabama Supreme Court.
“There’s some uncertainty lingering from this, but candidly, let’s go to President Trump, because President Trump put out a statement on this that I think a lot of people agree with and that is a goal that we all kind of want to achieve,” Gov. Abbott said.
“And the IVF process is a way of giving life to even more babies. And so what I think the goal is, is to make sure that we can find a pathway to ensure that parents who otherwise may not have the opportunity to have a child will be able to have access to the IVF process and become parents and give life to babies.”
Ruling Could Make IVF Harder for Couples
Critics of the Alabama ruling have said it could make access to IVF treatments much more complicated for couples seeking to have a child using the procedure. The decision has also raised concerns about the legal liabilities clinics and fertility specialists could face, potentially driving up the costs of IVF services and making them less accessible.“Attorney General Marshall has no intention of using the recent Alabama Supreme Court decision as a basis for prosecuting IVF families or providers,” Chief Counsel Katherine Robertson said.
Some lawmakers have expressed concern that while Attorney General Marshall won’t enforce the ruling, other law enforcement officials could, prompting a push for individual states to address the issue at a crucial period in the general election cycle, ahead of Super Tuesday.
Gov. Abbott said Texas would likely address the ruling at some point, once there had been an investigation into all the possible ramifications.
“I have no doubt that Texas will be among the states that will be addressing this issue when we can bring together all the different facts or scenarios about what can happen, but also, Texas is a pro-life state, and we want to do everything possible that we can to maintain Texas being a pro-life state,” he said.
“At the very same time, I think Texans agree with what President Trump said, and that is we as a state want to ensure that we promote life, we bring more life into the world and we empower parents to be able to have more children.”