IVF: The New Republican Nail for Their 'Pro-Life' Hammer

on Apr 13, 2024

It's important to understand that in IVF, we're discussing embryos that are less than a week old. The strategies Republicans typically use -- talking about fetal heartbeats and eyelashes and fingernails -- won't work with embryos, which are literally a microscopic cluster of undifferentiated cells.

Now, they're more than just random cells, as evidenced by the specific, almost magical circumstances required to turn them into a human child. Their potential is tremendous, as any woman who has done IVF will tell you. But as she will also tell you, five-day embryos are a long way from becoming a living baby.

Treating them as if they were identical is not simply silly. It's dangerous. It's like when my son, who'd prefer to avoid all cruciferous vegetables, says the broccoli on his plate is just as alive as his aunt's pet dog. Yes, son, they're both alive. No, son, they're not the same.

In IVF, it is the parent -- the woman, in almost every sense -- who undergoes treatment. She rides hormonal waves. She recovers from procedures. She miscarries. She gives birth. It is she who bloats and spasms and bleeds. Perhaps, one day, the embryo will bleed and cry and hurt, too, but it is capable of none of those things until she gives it that opportunity.

Women do not create life, but they are a necessary conduit for its creation. And it is impossible -- offensive, even -- to suggest that a woman's will should be removed from the equation of reproduction. The government doesn't and shouldn't have decision-making power over parenthood.

It's likely I'm preaching to the choir here, if we can trust polls showing massive public support for IVF. But Republicans have built massive fundraising and lobbying organs to fight abortion rights, organs that have nothing to do now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned. They're like hammers with no more nails to strike.

My fear, and the fear of every woman who kisses goodnight a child born through IVF, is that IVF is that next nail. So, I'll continue to talk about the importance of IVF, even if I'm called paranoid or hysterical.

Because right now, I can only imagine the world without IVF. And I'd like to keep it that way.

To learn more about Georgia Garvey, visit GeorgiaGarvey.com.

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