Women share personal experiences with IVF and views on Alabama court ruling

Amna Nawaz:

Lawmakers in Alabama have quickly passed bills to protect IVF clinics and providers so treatments can resume in the state.

A state Supreme Court decision last week ruled that an embryo created through in vitro fertilization should be considered a person. Since then, three IVF providers in Alabama have paused some services, including the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital, the biggest hospital system in the state.

The decision is rippling across the state and sparking fears in other states of similar rulings. We spoke with a few women who were affected.

Donella Gelpin, Alabama:

I am Donella Gelpin. I'm located in Birmingham, Alabama, and I'm 38 years old.

When I heard the news about my particular clinic, I cried at my desk at work all day. I could not hold back the tears. My pressure has been up just about every day since the news hit. And I'm just pleading and hoping that the lawmakers would just listen.

Emily Capilouto, Alabama:

My name is Emily Capilouto. I'm 36 years old, and I live in Birmingham, Alabama.

I am in between treatments, but I'm currently going through IVF. I just finished my second egg retrieval on January 31, and we are awaiting some test results. We were hoping that, after the second retrieval, we would be able to move forward and, beginning in March, schedule our first transfer.

And this ruling has now put our whole timeline and all of our hopes in jeopardy.

Peyton Wade, Tennessee:

My name is Peyton Wade. I live in Nashville, Tennessee, and I am 32 years old.

I think it is absolutely horrific and shocking that this is the reality in the world that we currently live in. As someone who is currently 15 weeks pregnant with my miracle IVF baby, I cannot imagine that IVF would be looked at as anything but a gift for people trying to achieve their family goals and just navigate the world of infertility, which is traumatic enough.

Donella Gelpin:

Unfortunately, I had multiple ectopic pregnancies that weren't really and truly diagnosed. IVF was the ideal choice for us. And, to be honest with you, it may be the only option for us.

Emily Capilouto:

I disagree with the court's ruling that an embryo should be protected legally as a child, because this embryo cannot thrive or grow without being in a cryogenic freezer. It can only thrive or grow if it's implanted in a uterus and is given the chance to be born.

Peyton Wade:

Sometimes, some of these rulings can have a domino effect. So, while there are several Tennessee decision-makers who have vocally said that they support IVF, that they do not see this coming to Tennessee, I think, at the end of the day, you just don't know who is really going to stand up and do the right thing when push comes to shove.

Emily Capilouto:

I am very, very worried that women that are facing the fight of their life from a cancer diagnosis now will have to further make tough decisions in terms of if they're going to wait and see what our courts do in order to potentially preserve their fertility and delay treatment or if they will have to decide to immediately start treatments and lose the opportunity to have families in the future.

Donella Gelpin:

We have three embryos that are still frozen right now. We have three embryos. And I am just hoping, even if it's just one, just that one, my husband and I will be happy if it's just that one.

But I at least want to have the opportunity to try.

Amna Nawaz:

Supporters of the legislation to protect IVF treatments gathered at the Alabama Statehouse yesterday to speak with lawmakers.

Barbara Collura helped to organize that effort. She's the president and CEO of RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association. She joins me now.

Barbara, welcome, and thanks for joining us.

So, we have seen lawmakers in Alabama move very quickly to pass bills allowing treatments to resume. The governor is expected to sign that into law. And the state's attorney general has said he will not prosecute clinics or doctors providing IVF treatment. So do all of those things combine ease your concerns about access to IVF in Alabama?

Barbara Collura, President and CEO, RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association: Well, first of all, thank you so much for having me.

I'm listening to the providers on the ground in Alabama, those three clinics you mentioned that are paused. They believe that this bill, if passed and signed into law, will give them an opportunity to start seeing patients again.

But I do want to say that there's still a lot to be determined in Alabama that is not totally resolved with this legislation. But, for now, the clinics are confident that they will be able to reopen and begin seeing patients again once this is signed into law.

Amna Nawaz:

What is not resolved with the legislation as it is right now?

Barbara Collura:

The law doesn't really talk about the status of an embryo.

And so that was the real crux of that Supreme Court case was, what is an embryo? Is it a person? Is it a clump of cells? Is — it have the potential for life? All of those things are still undecided.

This bill protects those providers and patients from any kind of criminal or civil prosecution. So it gives them some immunity. And, quite honestly, that was a big reason why they paused. And so we have got a lot of work ahead of us. The good news is, these clinics feel confident that they can soon reopen.

Amna Nawaz:

So that's the case in Alabama.

But we also just heard from Peyton Wade in Tennessee, worried about what she called a domino effect, that other states could also move forward with similar rulings or legislation. Do you see that concern as valid?

Barbara Collura:

I absolutely do.

And the reason why I say that is because, for many years, we have actually been fighting embryo personhood, fetal personhood bills in many states for many years, far before Roe v. Wade was overturned. When Roe v. Wade was overturned, we were very, very concerned, because we thought we would see a larger number of these kind of bills, which we did in 2023.

And we have seen a lot already in 2024. And we don't have the protection and that backstop of Roe v. Wade if one of these passes. And we know that legislators want to regulate IVF. We know that they want to define when life begins. And, look, I was in the Capitol, Montgomery, yesterday. I was approached by folks who do not approve of IVF, who want it shut down.

And they have a voice, and their voices are being heard, not only in Montgomery, but in other statehouses.

Amna Nawaz:

So, we're talking about the state level right now. But, at the federal level, we did see an effort by Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth, who herself relied on IVF to conceive her two daughters, proposing a bill to enshrine IVF protection nationally.

That bill's path was blocked by Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith from Mississippi. Do you see the only way to guarantee IVF access through some kind of federal legislation or move?

Barbara Collura:

I think it's a number of things. I think the federal bill is an incredible step. And it's an important piece in that puzzle.

There are some state constitutions that we're going to have to still get fixed, similar to what we have in Alabama. But that federal legislation is gaining a lot of ground over the last week or two. And we are strongly supporting it. And we need to get that passed.

Amna Nawaz:

You mentioned a lot of what we have been seeing since the fall of Roe v. Wade.

Where do you see this ruling in terms of the trend we have seen since then when it comes to reproductive rights?

Barbara Collura:

Yes, I mean, this is — this has been on the radar all along. It's just, I think, on the back burner.

And I think this Alabama court ruling has really brought it to the forefront. We have already seen a few governors. While some have said,I totally support IVF, others have said, I think we need to look at this and I think we need to study it.

And that concerns me greatly. So I think we're going to have our work cut out for ourselves in many states.

Amna Nawaz:

That is Barbara Collura, CEO of RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association.

Barbara, thank you so much for joining us.

Barbara Collura:

Thank you.