Republicans again vote against the right to IVF
Donald Trump, I strongly suspect, would not be able to explain how in vitro fertilization (IVF) works if his life depended on it. Yet in recent months – and in what seems to be a disingenuous and desperate attempt to woo women voters – he had a lot to say on the subject.
In February, for example, several clinics in Alabama temporarily suspended IVF procedures after the state’s Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are “children”. (Because the IVF process usually involves making multiple embryos, disposing of excess embryos would put medical professionals in legal jeopardy.) After massive backlash, Trump said he would “strongly support the availability of IVF” and called on Alabama lawmakers to preserve access to the procedure. What they did: Alabama quickly passed a law Protect IVF providers from liability. At the same time, however, Republicans refused to consider proposals that would have addressed the legal status of embryos created in IVF laboratories, which means that the issue is still not fully resolved.
In August, Trump went further regarding IVF. Not only has he said he supports access to the treatment, but he has claimed on several occasions that he would have the government or insurance companies pay for IVF if he is re-elected. Which is a very big, very expensive and very unfounded promise.
Then, during his recent disastrous debate with Kamala Harris, Trump proclaimed grandly he was “a leader on IVF, which is fertilization”. (It’s a shame the moderators didn’t put him on the spot and ask if he knew what the IV stood for.) He added: “When they got a very negative decision on IVF from the Alabama courts , I saw the people of Alabama. and the legislature agreed to it two days later. I was a leader about it. They know it and everyone else knows it.”
I’m not sure that “they” (whoever they are) know that. After all, if Trump was such a leader on “conception,” it follows that he would rally Republicans to support it. Instead — a mere week after Trump’s comments about IVF during the debate — Senate Republicans blockedfor the second time, a Democratic bill which would have provided a nationwide right to the fertility treatment. While the Right to IVF Act would have increased affordability by expanding insurance coverage, it doesn’t go nearly as far as Trump’s supposed plans to fully pay for IVF. Still, only two Republicans (Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski) voted to advance the bill. Senator JD Vance was not present for this vote, but voted against the bill in June. Trump, the self-proclaimed “leader on IVF”, couldn’t even lead his own running mate to vote “yes”.
In short: it is very clear that Trump has no plans to protect the right to IVF. A man of no convictions, I doubt he has any strong feelings on the matter himself, but we all know he does the bidding of whoever is most useful to him. And those people have always been ultra-conservatives bent on systematically dismantling the rights of women and minorities. Evangelical and hard-right ideologues succeeded in overturning Roe v Wade and now, should there be another Trump term, they have set their sights on limiting access to IVF. Don’t believe a word Trump says when it comes to IVF – or anything else, for that matter. The man is not a leader about “conception”; he is a leader on misinformation.
IVF treatment in Gaza wiped out – along with 4,000 embryos
Given that IVF is now a major Democratic talking point, it is notable that the vast majority of Democrats have been very quiet about the Israeli missile attack on an IVF fertility clinic in Gaza last December, which 4,000 embryos destroyed and an untold number of families’ dreams. Democrats, who keep telling reproductive rights are on the ballot, don’t seem concerned about the reproductive justice nightmare in Gaza. You can’t seriously claim to stand for women’s reproductive rights when you are bypass congress and international undermining and domestic law to ensure that Israel can hold starve and destructive women and children in Gaza.
Two Georgia mothers die after being denied access to legal abortions
The preventable deaths of Amber Nicole Thurman and Candi Millerwho could not access legal abortions and timely medical care in their state was first reported by ProPublica. Moira Donegan of The Guardian notice it “[t]his story highlights the reality of abortion bans, which – even in states like Georgia, with supposed exceptions for maternal health – effectively impose death sentences on women who attempt to terminate their pregnancies, or who experience serious complications”.
Jeff Bezos’ fiancee wrote a children’s book called The Fly Who Flew to Space and is being sued by her yoga instructor as a result
Forget all the legal drama – what is it with rich people and celebrities who are so convinced that they can write good children’s books?
Mohamed Al Fayed is accused in BBC documentary of raping five women
The former Harrods owner, who died last year, was also accused of sexually abusing at least 15 other women when they worked at the luxury department store.
Campaigners tie baby slings to statues in call for better UK paternity leave
A fantastic campaign idea drawing attention to the fact that the UK has the worst paternity leave in Europe.
Pregnancy causes profound changes in the brain
We have known for a long time that pregnancy turns out to be cause changes to the brain, but a new study has observed these changes in real time. So what does that mean? We are still figuring it out. “There is so much about the neurobiology of pregnancy that we still don’t understand,” explained one researcher. “[A]and it’s not because women are too complicated, it’s not because pregnancy is some kind of Gordian knot, it’s a byproduct of the fact that the biomedical sciences have historically ignored women’s health.”
Research shows picky eating in children is down to genetics, not parenting
Yesterday my toddler threw herself on the ground and screamed bloody murder when I had the audacity to ask her to eat peas. So this new report comes as very welcome news.
The week in pawtriarchy
A cat named Marley who lives at a safe house in London for women who have been enslaved, exploited and trafficked is named British Cat of the Year. The Guardian’s Amelia Hill writes that Marley’s award will be presented by “the novelist, presenter and self-confessed cat lady Dawn O’Porter, who said she learned so much about life and love from her cat that when it died, she had her have. freeze dried“. One would think JD Vance would have a thing or two to say about that.
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