Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that it is likely there would be “complete support” in the Republican Party for federal protections on in vitro fertilization (IVF) services.
Anchor Dana Bash said, “Let’s talk about an issue Republicans are grappling with, and that is the fallout of the Alabama IVF ruling that frozen embryos are children and should be protected from destruction. You’re really open about the struggles you and your wife have had with fertility. How does your experience shaped your perspective on the question of IVF access?”
Mullin said, “Well, listen, as you know, my wife and I we struggled for seven years to have children and it was it was tough. It’s something that was very difficult for us month after month after month. And we went to all types of fertility. So anyone that’s out there thinking that in Alabama thing and oh, my goodness, what’s going to happen? We’ve been trying to have children we’ve been wanting to have children now that’s going to be affected. I can tell you that’s not the position the Republican Party stands. We understand that. I’m not the only one in the Republican Party for that matter the only one in politics that has struggled having children. This had nothing to do with politics. This is the ruling of a court that I believe that the Alabama state legislators are probably going to fix. But as I reiterate, this is not the position of Republican Party or the pro-life movement at all.”
Bash said, “So there’s the position and then there’s what are you going to do about it as elected officials, as leaders. And so the question is whether or not us codifying that support into law protections for IVF on the federal level to prevent what we were seeing?”
Mullin said, “If we need to do this federal,ly, we absolutely will support it, and you’ll see a lot of support, maybe complete support, and the Republican Party. I can’t obviously speak for all my colleagues but I think the state legislator in Alabama is going to resolve this issue and hopefully we don’t have to do this federally,. But if we do need to I can assure you I’ll be right in the middle of that fight, fighting for it.”
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