Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns vowed Thursday to protect the use of in vitro fertilization, a process often used for families struggling with infertility.
His announcement came the day the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously to continue to allow the use of medication that induces abortion nearly two years after overturning the 1973 court decision that guaranteed a constitutional right to the procedure.
An Alabama Supreme Court opinion earlier this year sent the IVF industry into confusion when it ruled that embryos created using the process were “extrauterine children,” granting embryos the same rights as any other child in that state.
According to that decision, if embryos are destroyed, it would be considered the “wrongful death of a minor.” Alabama has since enacted a law that extends legal protections to fertility clinics if embryos are harmed.
The IVF process includes fertilizing an egg that can either be placed directly in the uterus or be frozen for future use. Oftentimes, unused embryos are discarded, given to other people seeking children or donated to science.
“There should be no question that in vitro fertilization will remain available in Georgia. Millions of families — many across our state — have struggled with fertility, and IVF has been a life-changing blessing for so many of them to become parents,” Burns said.
“Last session, the House passed a resolution supporting IVF, and we will look to continue that work next session by putting forward legislation to enshrine those protections in law.”
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, president of the state Senate, has also indicated he backs legislation to preserve access to IVF.
Democrats in both chambers introduced bills to protect IVF after the Alabama ruling, but the legislation received no traction.
State Rep. Teri Anulewicz, a Smyrna Democrat, sponsored legislation that would have made it so an embryo not in the uterus could not be considered a child, protecting fertility clinics from court rulings such as the Alabama one. She said it’s a smart move for Georgia Republicans to protect IVF, especially when it is something so many families have “relied on to become a family.”
“This is a huge issue for women,” she said. “Even if, nationally, Republican politicians really aren’t comprehending the breadth of impact banning IVF has, in Georgia it’s clear that everyone understands that this is a priority for families in Georgia.
A 2019 Georgia law that limits when abortions can be given also granted legal rights to embryos — often referred to as “personhood.” However, Georgia’s law specified that the embryo or fetus is an “unborn child” only when it is “carried in the womb.”
Burns’ assertion came hours after the Southern Baptist Convention — the nation’s largest Protestant denomination — voted to oppose the use of IVF, another sign of evangelical angst over the procedure.
Cole Muzio, director of the conservative Frontline Policy Council, said he’s not aware of any effort in Georgia to ban the practice.
“That’s not a conversation that’s happening,” he said. “But we don’t need to rush in and affirm IVF. It’s a discussion of what is human life and what can we do to have a culture that values human life. We can take advantage of the fact there’s a consensus right now that, ‘let’s not do anything negative on this issue.’ We also don’t need to codify support for some things that may go against our values.”
In its ruling on the abortion pill, justices wrote that the courts were not the right venue to challenge the Food and Drug Administration’s 2000 approval of mifepristone, one of two pills used to terminate a pregnancy up to 10 weeks. That’s later than Georgia’s abortion law allows in most cases, when the procedure is banned once a doctor can detect fetal cardiac activity, which is typically about six weeks into a pregnancy and before many know they are pregnant.
An analysis by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution last year found that between August 2022, shortly after Georgia’s abortion restrictions took effect, and April 2023, more than 80% of the about 19,500 abortions performed in the state were induced by medication.
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