Gov. Gavin Newsom Says Alabama's IVF Ruling Is A 'War On Women'

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) says that Alabama declaring frozen embryos are children is a war on women.

This is a serious threat, Newsom said Sunday on NBCs Meet the Press. Not just whats happening in Alabama, regardless of what Trump tweets out, saying the legislature in Alabama should do something about this. What about the United States Supreme Court, that again set the tone and tenure for the debate were having today? And again, its not just a war on travel, its not just a war on reproductive health care. Its also a war on women more broadly defined, including, as we know, contraceptives.

Last week, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are children after three Alabama couples sued a fertility clinic for wrongful death when a patient accessed the freezer the embryos were in and dropped them. In the ruling, Section 36.06 of the Alabama Constitution was cited, which states that each person is made in Gods image.

Section 36.06 recognizes that this is true of unborn human life no less than it is of all other human life that even before birth, all human beings bear the image of God, and their lives cannot be destroyed without effacing his glory, the ruling said.

Since the ruling, at least three fertility clinics in Alabama have paused in vitro fertilization treatments. Meanwhile, Republicans are scrambling to figure out how to deal with the court decision , with the Senate GOP urging its 2024 candidates to support IVF in a memo that was sent out on Friday.

Clearly state your support for IVF and fertility-related services as blessings for those seeking to have children, and publicly oppose any efforts to restrict access to IVF and other fertility treatments, framing such opposition as a defense of family values and individual freedom, National Republican Senatorial Committee executive director Jason Thielman said in the memo.

According to a recent report from The New York Times , former President Donald Trump has discussed supporting a 16-week national abortion ban that would include exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the pregnant person.

Speaking about this during his Meet the Press appearance, Newsom said of Trump: He supports a national ban, and if youre Lindsey Graham and others, theyre going to bring that down well below 16.

He will sign a national ban, Newsom continued. You want to understand the contours of this debate that we will be having over the next nine months ironically, nine months between now and November and the consequences of the Democratic Party not succeeding in Bidens reelection? Just consider the fact that he said that part out loud.