(The Hill) — Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Saturday that he thinks there will be a “correction” of the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos are people, which has caused health centers across the state to pause in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment.
“We’re for keeping these clinics open. You know, there will be a correction of the Alabama ruling by the state legislature in Alabama, the Governor has come out,” Graham said in an interview with Fox News. “But, we want to keep these clinics open.”
The Alabama Supreme Court decision is the first time a court has given rights and protections to an embryo so early after conception. The ruling found that embryos and fertilized eggs are children under the Alabama Wrongful Death of a Minor Act, even if they have yet to be implanted in a uterus.
Experts say the new standard may make IVF much more expensive and inaccessible but it does not make it illegal.
Graham, like many Republicans in recent days, has come out in support of IVF and fertility treatments. During the interview, he said IVF clinics enhance “the joy of having a child.”
While only limited to the state of Alabama, the ruling has potential to become far-reaching and may open the door to more battles over reproductive rights nearly two years after Roe v. Wade — which guaranteed a federal right to abortion — was overturned.
The South Carolina senator criticized Democrats who have said the ruling is linked to abortion rights. He said the reason they bring up abortion is because “they can’t talk about anything else.”
“If they can’t scare the hell out of you about us, they’re going to lose,” he said, referencing the voter turnout numbers in 2022 after Roe was overturned.
He continued, arguing that “this is not going to be a referendum over a fertility clinic.”
Graham said Republicans are “gonna support birth control” and the GOP is going to “keep these fertility clinics open.”
The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) urged its candidates to voice support for IVF after the ruling. The NRSC also pushed GOP candidates to support the fertility treatment and reject efforts to restrict IVF because the decision allows Democrats to “manipulate the abortion issue for electoral gain.”
Former President Trump, whom Graham said “gave a very good answer,” voiced his support Friday for preserving access IVF treatments. He that vowed under his leadership, the GOP would “make it easier for mothers and fathers to have babies, not harder!”