Organization studies abortion laws' effect on In Vitro Fertilization
Establishing personhood at conception poses some quandaries for IVF Researchers and Providers
(Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons)
Many longtime members of the reproductive rights movement understand the intersection between in vitro fertilization availability and abortion access. But many younger men and women haven’t learned how limiting one can hamper the other.
That issue is something that the American Society for Reproductive Medicine focuses on. Recently, it released a report that did a state-by-state analysis of reproductive laws that have limited abortion access. Becca O’Connor, director of the Center for Policy and Leadership for the organization, took some time to answer Repro Rights Now’s questions about their work and advocacy.
Much of the question remains about when states will establish the right of personhood, or when legal protections first are provided to an individual. If it’s at the moment of conception, then questions will linger pertaining to what happens to fertilized embryos in the lab.
“Let's say they accidentally knock a fertilized embryo off the table in that lab,” O’Connor said. “Are they up for manslaughter under these laws? These questions are swirling around.”
O’Connor said the devil was in the details of these antiabortion laws and regulations currently under consideration or already passed.
“A lot of people, including lawmakers, female and male or however they identify, do not understand necessarily the science behind these procedures, which are proven and effective, and in fact are intended to create life, which is the underlying goal,” O’Connor said.
The group is educating policymakers and politicians about the nuance of in vitro fertilization.
“There's a lack of awareness,” O’Connor said. “This is medically driven and scientifically driven information where people don't spend the time or take care to understand the implications of what is as simple as conception or fertilization and how they're defining them.
“When (does) life begin? That is where the danger lies.”