An Open Letter from the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus

Last week, the Alabama Supreme Court issued a ruling that shocked the state and the nation. The absurd decision that frozen embryos created for in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures have rights of personhood has serious implications for assistive reproductive technology (ART) access around the country and has caused a devastating IVF access crisis in Alabama.

But the decision and its impacts are not a surprise to those who have been watching closely. They stand on the precedent of every abortion ban, every extreme, ideological reproductive health care restriction, and every recent attack on reproductive freedom in every court across the country, from Idaho to Texas to West Virginia.

For years, the GOP has weaponized its power to stack courts around the country with extremist judges; to force through bill after bill aimed at undermining reproductive freedom; and to further its out-of-touch anti-abortion agenda at all costs. In its zeal to cater to the extreme right, the Republican party at every level of government has introduced and passed extreme legislation controlling reproductive health from the moment of conception.

In Congress, a majority of the Republican Members have repeatedly co-sponsored legislation that would define a fertilized egg as a person with full legal rights. Not only would these bills ban all abortions, they would also have the same effect as the Alabama court’s decision — severely restricting or even banning IVF. Already, 125 House Republicans have signed their names to the “Life at Conception Act” this Congress. Over 165 did so last Congress.

While they did that, Members of our Caucus consistently put forward a comprehensive reproductive freedom agenda to codify reproductive rights and safeguard access to the full range of reproductive health care — abortion, contraception, and family planning, including ART.

Since the Alabama Supreme Court’s ruling last week, the public outcry has understandably been intense. If the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization has taught Americans anything, it’s that Republican extremists are trying to take away their freedom to make reproductive health decisions, including whether, how, and when to start a family.

Republican policymakers have been caught flat-footed. In their effort to cater to the extreme right, a clear majority have sponsored and voted for bills that would end up restricting access to ART nationwide, just as we are seeing in Alabama today. Now, these same legislators want us to look the other way.

There is a GOP-led resolution currently circulating for support in Congress. The resolution claims to support access to ART, including IVF, and to condemn court decisions and policy proposals that undermine that access. The fact is, Nancy Mace, the lead sponsor of this resolution, also co-sponsored the “Life at Conception Act,” which would undermine access to or even ban those procedures, in the 117th Congress.

The outcry that has been heard since the Alabama decision was handed down is one that cannot be ignored. Which is, of course, why House Republicans have tried to change the subject with this resolution. But the American people can see this for what it is: an election-year stunt to cover up the depth of the extreme GOP’s agenda to take away our freedom to make our own reproductive health care decisions. Because the truth is: this is exactly what they have asked for all along.

The Pro-Choice Caucus will continue fighting for true reproductive freedom. We will continue to fight for robust legislation to codify Americans’ right to make their own decisions about whether, when, and how to start a family and safeguard access to reproductive health care. And we will do so whether the GOP decides to finally join us or not.

— Co-Chair Diana DeGette (CO-01), Co-Chair Barbara Lee (CA-12), and Whip Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07)