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WASHINGTON Many Texas Republicans have publicly embraced in vitro fertilization after a recent Alabama Supreme Court decision raised doubts about the future of IVF, but Democrats questioned their sincerity, pointing to GOP support for a bill declaring life begins at conception.

In a memo, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre described the Life at Conception Act as an extreme, dangerous bill that would make the desperate situation that women and families are facing right now in Alabama the law of the land.

She singled out for criticism the more than 120 GOP House members who are co-sponsoring the bill.

Republican officials think they can obfuscate their way out of their support for these extreme policies, she wrote. But spin is not a time machine. No attempt to rebrand can change the fact that their true colors are on the record.

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Several Texas Republicans who signed on to the bill rejected suggestions it would prohibit IVF, but the party has struggled to agree on how best to protect embryos that are created through the process.

The Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos created through IVF are legally children and people can be held liable for their destruction. Some Alabama clinics have halted IVF treatments while they assess their potential legal liability.

Patients in other conservative states, including Texas, are wondering if they could face a similar situation.

The 2023 Life at Conception Act would define a human being as each and every member of the species homo sapiens at all stages of life, including the moment of fertilization, cloning, or other moment at which an individual member of the human species comes into being.

It includes a provision saying it does not authorize the prosecution of any woman for the death of her unborn child.

It does not include specific language protecting IVF that was included in a Senate version introduced in 2021.

The IVF process can involve the creation of embryos that are not viable or that go unused. Democrats say that means the House bill, if enacted without IVF protections, would result in a de facto ban on the procedure.

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America has objected to some proposals aimed at protecting IVF access as going too far, saying it is possible to protect human embryos while also allowing for IVF.

Seventeen of the 25 Texas Republicans in the U.S. House are co-sponsors of the Life at Conception Act introduced last year. Most of them did not respond to emails requesting comment.

One, U.S. Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Irving, provided a statement in which she unequivocally backed IVF access and said the Supreme Courts decision striking down Roe v. Wade puts the onus on states to enact legislation protecting the procedure.

As a mother who has experienced the soul crushing grief of a miscarriage, I would not want to prevent any woman from the gift of carrying and bearing a child, Van Duyne said. I do believe life begins at conception and that given the Alabama Supreme Courts recent decision, state legislatures should enact clarifying legislation to protect the use of IVF as a means to bear children.

She called for using common sense when it comes to the Life at Conception Act, which she said is aimed at clarifying the 14th Amendment.

Legislation clarifying our U.S. Constitution is an appropriate action by the U.S. Congress, Van Duyne said. Making IVF illegal was never the intent of the Life at Conception Act.

Sensitivity to the issue was evident in interviews with some of the Texas Republicans who have co-sponsored the bill, which include U.S. Reps. Nathaniel Moran of Tyler, August Pfluger of San Angelo, Wesley Hunt of Houston, Brian Babin of Woodville, Michael Cloud of Victoria, Jodey Arrington of Lubbock, Randy Weber of Friendswood, Tony Gonzales of San Antonio, Lance Gooden of Terrell, Ronny Jackson of Amarillo, Pete Sessions of Waco, John Carter of Round Rock, Roger Williams of Willow Park, Pat Fallon of Frisco, Keith Self of McKinney and Jake Ellzey of Midlothian.

Ellzey said House Republicans are fully supportive of IVF.

If you are a pro-lifer, you also support IVF, Ellzey said.

He declined to get into specifics about how the legislation he co-sponsored would function if enacted, however. Democrats, he said, are trying to spotlight IVF to distract from other issues, such as the surge of illegal immigration, because they know they are losing in those areas.

Self said he stands by the bill and by IVF, which he and his wife considered many years ago. He said they decided against it because of the expense and low success rates at the time.

They also opted not to follow through with other fertility treatments because a doctor said they would have to agree to limit the number of fetuses his wife was carrying to three and abort any above that number if necessary, he said.

Im glad to be a co-sponsor of the bill and I do believe life begins at conception, and I think thats a stretch to say IVF would have to shut down, he said.

U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., sought this week to move by unanimous consent a bill protecting IVF access, but U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., objected to it as a vast overreach.

Republican U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz of Texas expressed support for IVF but pointed to states as the jurisdictions responsible for addressing concerns about access.

In Texas, it is clear that IVF is protected and should continue to be, Cruz told reporters this week. Ill leave it to Alabama to figure out Alabama law, but I think IVF has been an incredible tool for enabling moms and dads who want children to be able to conceive those kids, and it is a blessing that certainly matters to Texans and I think matters to Americans across the country.

U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, who is seeking to face Cruz in November, touted his support for IVF and criticized Senate Republicans for blocking Duckworths bill.

The miracle of IVF has provided so many Texans with the opportunity to have a family, and as a dad, I know the singular joy that being a parent can bring, Allred said in a statement. Texans who want nothing more than to start a family are scared, and Ted Cruzs dangerous record has put their rights and freedoms at risk.

Cruz responded to that criticism with a statement reiterating his support for access.

IVF has given families across the country the gift of children, he said. My hope is the state legislature will support a couples decision to want to grow their family and give them the opportunity to be a mother and father.

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GOP life-at-conception bill scrutinized after Alabama IVF ruling - The Dallas Morning News