Top Republicans defend IVF after Alabama ruling

Days after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu said they're supportive of in vitro fertilization procedures.

Speaking at the POLITICO Governors Summit on Thursday, Kemp said he hasn’t had a chance to look over the Alabama rulings and “wouldn't even want to try to pretend to understand what the issue is there.”

When pressed on whether he’s comfortable with IVF in general, Kemp said, “I am. … You have a lot of people out there in this country that they wouldn't have children if it weren't for that.”

The conservative governor signed legislation banning abortions once fetal cardiac activity can be detected, colloquially called a heartbeat bill. The law effectively prohibits most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy — before many people know they’re pregnant.

The law was challenged in 2022, but Georgia’s Supreme Court reinstated the six-week ban shortly afterward.

It’s crucial for people who disagree on issues like IVF procedures to be able to come together and have a discussion about it, Kemp said.

“Those are discussions where we got to get back in this country, where we're working together on things to find solutions versus just blaming the other side,” the Georgia governor said.

Also asked about the Alabama ruling at the summit, Tennessee's Lee said “generally I am supportive of IVF," explaining that he doesn’t yet know "the details of that case and ruling."

Abortion is illegal in Tennessee except to save the life of the pregnant person.

Sununu, a self-described “pro-choice” Republican, was more direct, panning the ruling —which effectively ends in-vitro fertilization in the state — as “scary.”

“You want to make sure those services are accessible,” he said.

In 2019, Sununu signed a law that expanded insurance coverage of fertility treatment. Sununu supports restrictions on abortion only later in pregnancy, a position that is ideologically out of step with much of his party’s base nationally.

The governors' remarks come the day after GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley told NBC News she agreed with the Alabama decision.

“Embryos, to me, are babies," she said. "When you talk about an embryo to me, that’s a life.”

Mia McCarthy contributed to this report.