From 2h ago
State of the Union guest list puts reproductive rights in spotlight
Jessica Glenza
Becerra’s comments come ahead of Joe Biden addressing the nation in the State of the Union on Thursday night. Although the White House has not released the speech, a large number of Democratic guests suggest reproductive rights may feature heavily.
Among the guests of high-ranking Democrats are Elizabeth Carr, the first person in the US to be born via IVF; Amanda Zurawski, a Texas woman who nearly died of septic shock when she was denied a medically necessary abortion; and Kate Cox, who had to flee Texas for an abortion after she learned her fetus had a fatal chromosomal condition.
More guests include reproductive endocrinologists, an Indiana doctor who provided an abortion to a 10-year-old rape victim, and leaders of reproductive rights groups.
Becerra’s comments emphasizing the importance of reproductive rights, Democrats’ guest list for the State of the Union and a recent administration officials’ trips to states with abortion restrictions are the most recent evidence of Democrat’s election bet: that when Republicans married the motivated minority of voters who support the anti-abortion movement, they also divorced themselves from the broader American public, broad margins of whom support IVF, contraception and legal abortion.
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Joe Biden will deliver the final State of the Union address of his presidential term this evening, giving him an opportunity to tout his accomplishments and pitch his re-election campaign as he prepares for a rematch against Donald Trump in November.
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Previewing Biden’s State of the Union speech, his press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, said his remarks would focus on the president’s vision for the nation’s future and his legislative accomplishments.
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“You’re going to hear the president address how democracy is under attack, how freedoms are certainly under attack,” including women’s reproductive rights and voting rights, Jean-Pierre told MSNBC.
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Biden’s speech will also highlight his agenda for a potential second term, the White House chief of staff Jeff Zients told NPR. Those include “lowering costs, continuing to make people’s lives better by investing in childcare, eldercare, paid family and medical leave, continued progress on student debt”, he said, adding:
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The president is also going to call for restoring Roe v. Wade and giving women freedom over their healthcare. And he’ll talk about protecting, not taking away, freedoms in other areas, as well as voting rights.
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Becerra’s comments come ahead of Joe Biden addressing the nation in the State of the Union on Thursday night. Although the White House has not released the speech, a large number of Democratic guests suggest reproductive rights may feature heavily.
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Among the guests of high-ranking Democrats are Elizabeth Carr, the first person in the US to be born via IVF; Amanda Zurawski, a Texas woman who nearly died of septic shock when she was denied a medically necessary abortion; and Kate Cox, who had to flee Texas for an abortion after she learned her fetus had a fatal chromosomal condition.
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More guests include reproductive endocrinologists, an Indiana doctor who provided an abortion to a 10-year-old rape victim, and leaders of reproductive rights groups.
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Becerra’s comments emphasizing the importance of reproductive rights, Democrats’ guest list for the State of the Union and a recent administration officials’ trips to states with abortion restrictions are the most recent evidence of Democrat’s election bet: that when Republicans married the motivated minority of voters who support the anti-abortion movement, they also divorced themselves from the broader American public, broad margins of whom support IVF, contraception and legal abortion.
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The health and human services secretary, Xavier Becerra, said the US must provide federal protections for reproductive rights if Americans hope to avoid further restrictions on in vitro fertilization, contraception and abortion in an exclusive interview with the Guardian.
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Becerra’s comments come in the wake of an Alabama supreme court decision that gave embryos the rights of “extrauterine children” and forced three of the state’s largest fertility clinics to stop services for fear of litigation and prosecution.
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He said the events in Alabama were linked directly to the “take-down” of Roe v Wade, a decision that provided a constitutional right to abortion grounded in privacy and was overturned by conservative US supreme court justices in 2022. Becerra said:
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It wasn’t until this new court came in” – that is, that three new supreme court justices were confirmed by former President Trump – “that we saw the attacks on Roe v Wade take hold, and today without Roe v Wade there are women who are trying to have babies in Alabama who are facing the consequences.
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He continued:
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None of this would be happening in Alabama on IVF if Roe v Wade was still the law of the land, and no one should try to deny that.
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Becerra, health and human services secretary, speaks during a roundtable discussion with in-vitro fertilization patients and health professionals in Birmingham, Alabama, last month.","caption":"Xavier Becerra, health and human services secretary, speaks during a roundtable discussion with in-vitro fertilization patients and health professionals in Birmingham, Alabama, last month.","credit":"Photograph: Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images"}}],"attributes":{"pinned":false,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1709822807000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"09.46 EST","blockLastUpdated":1709823000000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"09.50 EST","blockFirstPublished":1709822953000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"09.49 EST","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"09.49","title":"‘Pandora’s box was opened’ after fall of Roe, says health secretary","contributors":[{"name":"Jessica Glenza","imageUrl":"https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2019/04/27/Jessica_Glenza__Circular_panelist_byline.DO_NOT_USE_FOR_ANY_OTHER_PURPOSE!_(23394831a53752679db44e69118007d9f4b22799).png?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=63148f9d2c388e2f986b13b6b2449eed","largeImageUrl":"https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2017/10/06/Jessica-Glenza,-R.png?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=0548ebccda73215e75d1df19154fd351"}],"primaryDateLine":"Thu 7 Mar 2024 12.03 EST","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Thu 7 Mar 2024 09.17 EST"},{"id":"65e9ce058f0827b1cba3eb77","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
Alabama lawmakers moved quickly to approve new legislation that to protect IVF providers from the fallout of a court ruling that found frozen embryos have the rights of children under the state’s wrongful death law.
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Alabama’s governor, Kay Ivey, signed the bill into law on Wednesday night. The law protects providers from lawsuits and criminal prosecution in the event of “damage or death of an embryo” during IVF services. In a statement after signing, Ivey, a Republican, said:
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IVF is a complex issue, no doubt, and I anticipate there will be more work to come, but right now, I am confident that this legislation will provide the assurances our IVF clinics need and will lead them to resume services immediately.
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The bill gives legal protection for fertility clinics, at least three of which paused IVF treatments after the state’s supreme court ruled last month that three couples who had frozen embryos destroyed in an accident at a storage facility could pursue wrongful death lawsuits.
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from the Alabama fertility clinic take photos as the bill is voted on.","caption":"Doctors from the Alabama fertility clinic take photos as the bill is voted on. ","credit":"Photograph: Butch Dill/AP"}},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
Republicans in the state legislature proposed the immunity bill as a way to get clinics reopened, but have refused to take up a bill that would address the legal status of embryos.
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Alabama fertility clinics that paused in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments following a controversial state supreme court ruling last month that equated frozen embryos to children are considering their next moves after Alabama’s governor, Kay Ivey, signed a bill into law aimed at protecting IVF providers from potential legal liability on Wednesday night.
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Meanwhile, Joe Biden is preparing to deliver the final State of the Union address of his presidential term, where Democrats plan to put reproductive freedom literally front and center this evening. Among the guests invited to the SoTU are guests involved in the reproductive rights movement in some way, including Kate Cox, who made headlines in December when she fled Texas to receive abortion care after she was denied access to the procedure in her home state. Elizabeth Carr, the first person born via in vitro fertilization in the US, is also expected to attend.
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The stakes for Biden tonight are astronomical, as the president will aim to tout his accomplishments and pitch his re-election campaign as he faces intensifying worries about his age and ability at a time when the US faces numerous challenges at home and abroad.
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Here’s what is happening today:
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9am ET: Biden will receive his intelligence briefing
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9.40am: Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell will testify to the Senate Banking committee
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10am: The House will convene. The Senate will meet.
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10am: Treasury secretary Janet Yellen will hold a bilateral meeting with Germany’s minister for economic affairs and climate action Robert Habeck.
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8.25pm: Biden, First Lady Jill Biden and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff will depart the White House en route to the Capitol.
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9pm: Biden will deliver his State of the Union address to Congress.
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Key events
Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, said Joe Biden’s State of the Union address tonight will highlight Democratic successes and show the chaos in the House Republican party in stark relief.
During his floor remarks reported by CNN, Schumer said Biden will make it clear that “after so much adversity, America’s economy is growing, inflation is slowing, and Democrats’ agenda is delivering.” He said:
The difference between the parties will be as clear as night and day. Democrats are focused on lowering costs, creating jobs, putting money in people’s pockets. But the hard right, which too often runs the Republican party in the House and now increasingly in the Senate, is consumed by chaos, bullying, and attacking things like women’s freedom of choice.
Meanwhile, the Republican front-runner for president, Donald Trump, has “made it abundantly clear that he’s not running to make people’s lives better, but rather on airing his personal political grievances,” Schumer added.
Biden to use State of the Union address to urge protection of rights
Joe Biden will deliver the final State of the Union address of his presidential term this evening, giving him an opportunity to tout his accomplishments and pitch his re-election campaign as he prepares for a rematch against Donald Trump in November.
Previewing Biden’s State of the Union speech, his press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, said his remarks would focus on the president’s vision for the nation’s future and his legislative accomplishments.
“You’re going to hear the president address how democracy is under attack, how freedoms are certainly under attack,” including women’s reproductive rights and voting rights, Jean-Pierre told MSNBC.
Biden’s speech will also highlight his agenda for a potential second term, the White House chief of staff Jeff Zients told NPR. Those include “lowering costs, continuing to make people’s lives better by investing in childcare, eldercare, paid family and medical leave, continued progress on student debt”, he said, adding:
The president is also going to call for restoring Roe v. Wade and giving women freedom over their healthcare. And he’ll talk about protecting, not taking away, freedoms in other areas, as well as voting rights.
Martin Pengelly
Mike Johnson, the Republican House speaker, reportedly pleaded with his party to show “decorum” on Thursday, when Joe Biden comes to the chamber to deliver his State of the Union address.
“Decorum is the order of the day,” Johnson said, according to an unnamed Republican who attended a closed-door event on Capitol Hill on Wednesday and was quoted by the Hill.
The same site said another unnamed member of Congress said Johnson asked his party to “carry ourselves with good decorum”. A third Republican was quoted as saying:
He said, ‘Let’s have the appropriate decorum. We don’t need to be shrill, you know, we got to avoid that. We need to base things upon policy, upon facts, upon reality of situations.
Last year’s State of the Union saw outbursts from Republicans and responses from Biden that made headlines, most awarding the president the win. Kevin McCarthy, then speaker, also asked his Republican members not to breach decorum. But in a sign of his limited authority, months before he became the first speaker ejected by his own party, such pleas fell on deaf ears.
More than a quarter of Black female voters describe abortion has their top issue in this year’s presidential election, according to a new poll.
The findings by health policy research firm KFF reveal a significant shift from previous election years, when white, conservative evangelicals were more likely to put abortion as their biggest priority when voting, AP reported. Those voters were highly motivated in recent presidential elections to cast ballots for Donald Trump.
Overall, 12% of voters surveyed said abortion was the most important issue in this year’s election. Twenty eight percent of Black women identified the issue as top of mind, as well as 19% of women living in states where abortion is banned, and 17% of women who are under age 50.
Of voters who said that abortion was their most important issue, two-thirds said they believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases.
“It’s a complete shift,” pollster Ashley Kirzinger told AP.
Abortion voters are young, Black women – and not white evangelicals.
Women – and Black women, in particular – were crucial to Joe Biden’s win over Trump in the 2020 presidential election. More than half of Black Americans live in southern states, most of which have introduced strict abortion laws since the supreme court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Joe Biden won the Hawaii’s Democratic presidential contest on Wednesday with 66% of the vote, according to the Hawaii Democratic Party.
Of the 1,563 votes cast, 29% of voters chose “uncommitted”, the highest percentage total in any statewide contest this cycle.
Some Democrats have pushed for voters to cast an uncommitted ballot in states that permit it, as a protest vote against Biden’s position on the war between Israel and Hamas.
"Uncommitted" got 29% against Biden in Hawaii's caucuses pic.twitter.com/IVr7yhvQf3
— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) March 7, 2024
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Kate Cox, the Texas woman who had to flee her state for an abortion, has described the “terrifying” toll that politicizing health decisions takes on women and families.
Cox, who is expected to attend this evening’s State of the Union address as a guest of first lady Jill Biden, sued Texas after the state supreme court ruled to block her from receiving an abortion after her foetus was diagnosed with a fatal chromosomal condition.
Cox did not qualify for an abortion because her doctor did not establish her symptoms were life-threatening, the court ruled, prompting her to travel to New Mexico to undergo an abortion.
Having to seek the procedure out of state “added a lot of pain and suffering to what was already the most devastating time of our lives,” she said in an interview with CNN aired last night. “I’m just one,” she said, adding:
There’s a lot of women and families that are suffering because of the laws in Texas today.
Powerful interview from @danabashcnn with Kate Cox. pic.twitter.com/8Nb5MPVczc
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) March 7, 2024
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The health and human services secretary, Xavier Becerra, said while his agency would continue to enforce federal laws in Alabama, including laws that provide medical patients a right to privacy and the right to stabilizing emergency care, including emergency abortions, it is ultimately the courts in and politicians of Alabama who need to fix the upheaval their policies caused.
“The supreme court in Alabama is the one that has to undo its wrongful decision,” Becerra told the Guardian.
The state legislature in Alabama should move to provide protections to families that rely on IVF – and serious comprehensive protections, not short-term, piecemeal protections that threaten anyone going through the process or any provider who wishes to provide quality IVF services.
Although Alabama politicians have passed a bill to give IVF providers immunity from civil and criminal suits, national associations of fertility doctors have said the law does not go far enough to address the core problem – the supreme court “conflating fertilized eggs with children”.
“Clearly, this goes way beyond abortion,” said Becerra.
It would not surprise me if we also begin to see actions which undermine the ability of women to get basic family planning services.
The American Society for Reproductive Medicine, which represents IVF providers nationwide, has said the new law is insufficient because it does not correct the fundamental problem – the court ruling that considers fertilized eggs to be children.
The bill “falls far short of what Alabamans want and need to access fertility care in their state without fear,” NBC cited Karla Torres, senior counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights, as saying, adding that the legislation amounted to “backpedaling in the face of state and nationwide public outcry to allow politicians to save face.”
Although some of the clinics that paused IVF services after the state court’s decision are planning to resume treatments, the fertility clinic at the center of that case, the Center for Reproductive Medicine at Mobile Infirmary, said it will not yet be resuming IVF treatments, CNN reported. A statement said:
At this time, we believe the law falls short of addressing the fertilized eggs currently stored across the state and leaves challenges for physicians and fertility clinics trying to help deserving families have children of their own.
Alabama’s governor, Kay Ivey, acknowledged the new law was a quick fix after the court ruling and noted “there will be more work to come” on IVF protections.
State of the Union guest list puts reproductive rights in spotlight
Jessica Glenza
Becerra’s comments come ahead of Joe Biden addressing the nation in the State of the Union on Thursday night. Although the White House has not released the speech, a large number of Democratic guests suggest reproductive rights may feature heavily.
Among the guests of high-ranking Democrats are Elizabeth Carr, the first person in the US to be born via IVF; Amanda Zurawski, a Texas woman who nearly died of septic shock when she was denied a medically necessary abortion; and Kate Cox, who had to flee Texas for an abortion after she learned her fetus had a fatal chromosomal condition.
More guests include reproductive endocrinologists, an Indiana doctor who provided an abortion to a 10-year-old rape victim, and leaders of reproductive rights groups.
Becerra’s comments emphasizing the importance of reproductive rights, Democrats’ guest list for the State of the Union and a recent administration officials’ trips to states with abortion restrictions are the most recent evidence of Democrat’s election bet: that when Republicans married the motivated minority of voters who support the anti-abortion movement, they also divorced themselves from the broader American public, broad margins of whom support IVF, contraception and legal abortion.
‘Pandora’s box was opened’ after fall of Roe, says health secretary
Jessica Glenza
The health and human services secretary, Xavier Becerra, said the US must provide federal protections for reproductive rights if Americans hope to avoid further restrictions on in vitro fertilization, contraception and abortion in an exclusive interview with the Guardian.
Becerra’s comments come in the wake of an Alabama supreme court decision that gave embryos the rights of “extrauterine children” and forced three of the state’s largest fertility clinics to stop services for fear of litigation and prosecution.
He said the events in Alabama were linked directly to the “take-down” of Roe v Wade, a decision that provided a constitutional right to abortion grounded in privacy and was overturned by conservative US supreme court justices in 2022. Becerra said:
It wasn’t until this new court came in” – that is, that three new supreme court justices were confirmed by former President Trump – “that we saw the attacks on Roe v Wade take hold, and today without Roe v Wade there are women who are trying to have babies in Alabama who are facing the consequences.
He continued:
None of this would be happening in Alabama on IVF if Roe v Wade was still the law of the land, and no one should try to deny that.
Some Alabama fertility clinics that paused IVF services last month have said they will resume services after state lawmakers approved new legislation to protect IVF providers from potential civil and criminal liability.
The bill “provides the protections that we need to start care – or resume care, really,” Dr Janet Bouknight, an IVF provider at Alabama Fertility, told NBC News. The clinic is planning to resume services this week.
The state’s largest health care system, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, also said it would restart IVF services. In a video statement, Dr Warner Huh, chair of the UAB department of obstetrics and gynaecology, said:
While UAB is moving to promptly resume IVF treatments, we’ll continue to assess developments and advocate for protections for IVF patients and our providers.
Republicans in the state legislature proposed the immunity bill as a way to get clinics reopened, but have refused to take up a bill that would address the legal status of embryos. For that reason, some legal experts and reproductive rights advocates have warned the bill does not go far enough.
Barbara Collura, president of Resolve: The National Infertility Association, said in a statement on Wednesday evening:
While we are grateful for the actions of Alabama legislators, this legislation does not address the underlying issue of the status of embryos as part of the IVF process – threatening the long-term standard of care for IVF patients. There is more work to be done.
Alabama governor signs IVF protection bill into law
Alabama lawmakers moved quickly to approve new legislation that to protect IVF providers from the fallout of a court ruling that found frozen embryos have the rights of children under the state’s wrongful death law.
Alabama’s governor, Kay Ivey, signed the bill into law on Wednesday night. The law protects providers from lawsuits and criminal prosecution in the event of “damage or death of an embryo” during IVF services. In a statement after signing, Ivey, a Republican, said:
IVF is a complex issue, no doubt, and I anticipate there will be more work to come, but right now, I am confident that this legislation will provide the assurances our IVF clinics need and will lead them to resume services immediately.
The bill gives legal protection for fertility clinics, at least three of which paused IVF treatments after the state’s supreme court ruled last month that three couples who had frozen embryos destroyed in an accident at a storage facility could pursue wrongful death lawsuits.
Republicans in the state legislature proposed the immunity bill as a way to get clinics reopened, but have refused to take up a bill that would address the legal status of embryos.
Alabama fertility services set to resume after governor signs IVF protection bill
Alabama fertility clinics that paused in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments following a controversial state supreme court ruling last month that equated frozen embryos to children are considering their next moves after Alabama’s governor, Kay Ivey, signed a bill into law aimed at protecting IVF providers from potential legal liability on Wednesday night.
Meanwhile, Joe Biden is preparing to deliver the final State of the Union address of his presidential term, where Democrats plan to put reproductive freedom literally front and center this evening. Among the guests invited to the SoTU are guests involved in the reproductive rights movement in some way, including Kate Cox, who made headlines in December when she fled Texas to receive abortion care after she was denied access to the procedure in her home state. Elizabeth Carr, the first person born via in vitro fertilization in the US, is also expected to attend.
The stakes for Biden tonight are astronomical, as the president will aim to tout his accomplishments and pitch his re-election campaign as he faces intensifying worries about his age and ability at a time when the US faces numerous challenges at home and abroad.
Here’s what is happening today:
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9am ET: Biden will receive his intelligence briefing
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9.40am: Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell will testify to the Senate Banking committee
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10am: The House will convene. The Senate will meet.
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10am: Treasury secretary Janet Yellen will hold a bilateral meeting with Germany’s minister for economic affairs and climate action Robert Habeck.
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8.25pm: Biden, First Lady Jill Biden and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff will depart the White House en route to the Capitol.
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9pm: Biden will deliver his State of the Union address to Congress.
