Most Americans don’t believe that embryos created for in vitro fertilization (IVF) should be considered people.
Results from an Axios/Ipsos poll released this week indicated that two-thirds of Americans oppose the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos created through in vitro fertilization are considered children. It halted access to IVF – the joining of an egg and sperm in a laboratory dish for potential implantation – in the state. With this ruling, the court decided people can be held legally responsible for destroying these embryos.
Axios/Ipsos conducted the poll from Feb. 23 to Feb. 25 and it included a sample of 1,020 adults age 18 and older. Out of this sample, 324 were Democrats, 291 were Republicans and 301 were Independents.
“There is a significant partisan gap on familiarity with a range of issues around abortion and reproductive health tested in the survey, with a majority of Democrats familiar with these events, compared to roughly a quarter to a third of Republicans,” said Ipsos. “As such, opposition is even higher among Americans who are familiar with the ruling.”
Overall, fewer than half of Americans are at least somewhat familiar with the Alabama ruling. Poll results also found that one in three U.S. adults have used or personally know someone who used IVF in efforts to have a baby. While Republicans were more likely to support the Alabama court’s ruling, around half also opposed the ruling.
In a statement, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Congressional Republicans “rushed to the microphones to proclaim their support for IVF,” after the ruling. Even former President Donald Trump said he supports IVF access.
“Under my leadership, the Republican Party will always support the creation of strong, thriving, healthy American families,” he said in a Truth Social post. “We want to make it easier for mothers and fathers to have babies, not harder! That includes supporting the availability of fertility treatments like IVF in every State in America. Like the OVERWHELMING MAJORITY of Americans, including the VAST MAJORITY of Republicans, Conservatives, Christians, and Pro-Life Americans, I strongly support the availability of IVF for couples who are trying to have a precious baby.”
However, Jean-Pierre noted that Senate Republicans blocked a vote to protect access to in vitro fertilization.
“When Senator Tammy Duckworth offered a bill to protect access to IVF in every state, Senate Republicans said no,” she said. “Let’s be clear – every woman in this country should have the freedom to make the decision to have a child, and about one in five American women struggle with infertility and many rely on IVF. This is a basic issue of reproductive freedom.”
According to Jean-Pierre, this ruling is directly connected to the Dobbs v. Jackson U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade abortion protections. According to the most recent Gallup polling, the majority of Americans believe abortion should be legal to some degree.
“We must be clear-eyed about how we got here,” she said. “When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, it paved the road for Republican elected officials’ extreme, out-of-touch agenda which has eroded access to reproductive health care for families in Alabama and across the country.”
After the Alabama ruling, the Biden administration held a roundtable discussion about access to fertility services.
“Participants included leaders of national advocacy organizations dedicated to improving access to fertility services, including fertility preservation, and health care provider associations,” said the White House. Those participants discussed fertility preservation services ahead of cancer treatments, IVF for LGBTQI+ families and more.