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Democrats invite doctors, patients to SOTU to highlight Dobbs’ ripple effects
Published by Politico. Read the full article.
Democrats are working to make abortion and reproductive health care a central issue in the 2024 election.
A handful of Democrats plan to bring fertility doctors and patients to the State of the Union Thursday night, as part of an attempt to highlight the wide-ranging effects of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and remind voters about Democrats’ efforts to protect access to abortion and in vitro fertilization.
The invitations come as Democrats have seized on the recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling that declared embryos are children, leading some IVF clinics in the state to pause their operations. President Joe Biden, who is expected to speak about reproductive rights Thursday night, and congressional Democrats have accused Republicans of jeopardizing IVF treatments, noting that overturning Roe had consequences not only for abortion rights, but fertility care, emergency medicine and contraception, too.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said Tuesday that he would bring Elizabeth Carr, the first person in the United States born via in vitro fertilization, in Norfolk, Virginia in 1981, as his guest. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Rep. Lori Trahan (D-Mass.) have invited Drs. Amanda Adeleye and Pietro Bortoletto, respectively. Both are reproductive endocrinologists who specialize in fertility care.
