Image: An in vitro fertilization patient at the University of Alabama at Birmingham holds up a photo of her daughter, who was conceived via IVF.
Republican support for in vitro fertilization, after surging in the wake of a 2024 Alabama Supreme Court decision that threatened the procedure, may be splintering as President Donald Trump retreats from his IVF promises and more far-right voices gain ground.
Earlier this year, conservatives in the Tennessee House staged an eleventh-hour skirmish over an IVF protection bill introduced by two of their Republican colleagues. The bill eventually passed, becoming one of the first in the nation to explicitly protect access to IVF. But some lawmakers who voted for it have signalled their willingness to revisit the issue.
This is because in statehouses around the nation, IVF has emerged as a dividing line running through the Republican Party. Particularly in states where abortion is banned, lawmakers who unite under the “pro-life” banner disagree over whether IVF gives life or destroys it, or both. People who believe embryos are children oppose IVF because it can involve the discarding of some embryos, which they say is akin to abortion.
After the Alabama Supreme Court ruled last year that embryos are people, fertility clinics around the state temporarily halted their services, sparking nationwide outrage as most people, who strongly support IVF, were not aware of embryos being discarded as part of the process.
SOURCE: Anna Claire Vollers, Stateline. 26 August 2025. PHOTO: Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images.