Posts tagged with "VP Harris called it ‘outrageous’"

Democrats seek to leverage Alabama embryo ruling in an election year

February 23, 2024

Since the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are people on Friday, February 16, Democrats have begun to seize on the decision—casting it as further evidence of a Republican-led assault on reproductive rights, an issue which they have reason to believe already plays to their advantage, reports The Washington Post.

The Alabama decision, which threatens the practice of in vitro fertilization, comes nearly two years after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade—prompting several states to enact restrictions on abortion and catapulting the issue of reproductive rights to the forefront of subsequent elections.

Democrats, including those in the White House, argue that the Alabama decision is a harbinger of further restrictions, if Republicans make gains in Congress and expand their hold on statehouses nationwide—and hope the issue can boost turnout in an election year in which polling suggests a lack of enthusiasm for the incumbent president.

In its ruling, the Alabama high court held that someone can be held liable for destroying frozen embryos, a common outcome in IVF procedures, which have been utilized in soaring numbers in the United States by families of all political stripes over the past decade.

Joy Williams, a Democrat consultant based in New York, said the ruling bolsters Democrats ahead of the 2024 election because it will widely be seen by families as part of “an escalating attack on their freedoms” by Republicans.

“What this says to families and individuals is we are going to continue to restrict your ability to make individual choices about your body and your livelihood,” Williams said. “And that motivates people to turn out.”

Reproductive rights as an election issue have been a highly favorable one for Democrats in recent contests. Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe, every ballot measure that has sought to preserve or expand abortion access has been successful, while those that have sought to restrict abortion access have failed — even in states that skew conservative.

The White House was quick to put a spotlight on the Alabama decision. In a social media post Wednesday, Vice President Harris called it “outrageous” and said that it “is already robbing women of the freedom to decide when and how to build a family.”

And in statement Thursday, Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez sought to pin blame directly on Trump.

“What is happening in Alabama right now is only possible because Donald Trump’s Supreme Court justices overturned Roe v. Wade,” she said, alluding to the three justices nominated by Trump who currently sit on the court.

Research contact: @washingtonpost