00:00
Hey sister, what do you have there?
00:02
Oh, my frozen embryos.
00:03
But according to Alabama,
00:04
these are considered Children.
00:06
Wait, what do you mean by Children?
00:07
Yes, brother. There's a lot happening in Alabama and it's
00:12
affecting in vitro fertilization.
00:15
Lupe Rodriguez, the executive director of the National Latina Institute for
00:19
Reproductive Justice is here to give us the full update.
00:25
Hi. Thank you for having me.
00:27
Thank you so much for coming on.
00:29
And so what is happening with IVF in Alabama?
00:33
The Alabama Supreme Court ruled this week that frozen embryos are considered
00:38
Children. Basically, it's criminal act to dispose of frozen embryos
00:43
fertility clinics and places that provide in vitro fertilization are ceasing
00:48
their operations for fear of being criminalized for doing the kind of
00:53
or providing the kind of care that they do.
00:56
And it's concerning for the rest of the country and access
00:59
to reproductive health care.
01:01
not just for Alabamians but but for folks all around the
01:04
country and, and who will this impact the ruling directly impacts
01:09
the hundreds of Alabamians who seek invert fertilization care every year.
01:16
pushing that care out of reach for them.
01:18
It's making it more expensive,
01:19
of course, and it's making it harder for people who
01:23
are trying to build their families to do so.
01:24
And, and then currently families are concerned that they're unable to
01:28
make decisions about their embryos.
01:31
In our perspective, working with Latinos across the country,
01:35
We know that Latinos are already disproportionately impacted by abortion
01:41
bans by other kinds of restrictions on their reproductive health choices.
01:45
And this ruling, you know,
01:47
only increases the number of of barriers that already exist in
01:52
front of them to be able to make reproductive health decisions for
01:54
themselves and their families.
01:56
And is this going to happen elsewhere?
01:59
Like can this happen in other states?
02:02
And I think, I think our concern is definitely that this
02:05
is these kinds of laws that give personhood rights to
02:11
embryos are a part of what many organizations like mine and
02:17
other activists that have been fighting for reproductive justice have been fighting
02:20
against for a long time.
02:23
of laws are not new.
02:25
There have been several states across the country in which
02:29
anti abortion activists have tried to pass these kinds of laws.
02:34
And so they signal you know,
02:37
this signals a a win for these folks who,
02:39
who have been trying to pass these laws across the country.
02:43
the expectation that we have is that this will this trend will
02:46
continue and, and that it will be attempted in other parts
02:49
of the country and other states as well.
02:53
what can voters do if they don't want this to happen in
02:57
their state? So we have an election this year,
03:03
at the federal level.
03:05
I think it's super important that folks are activated and
03:08
and, and go out to vote.
03:10
because the decisions that we make in these elections have
03:16
on how how these laws can go into effect.
03:20
I think it's also important for folks to talk about this
03:24
I think across the country,
03:26
these kinds of laws or attempts at passing these kinds of
03:30
laws have, have been happening and,
03:33
you know, and in this case,
03:34
you know, they're affecting specifically in vitro fertilization clinics because abortion
03:38
is already illegal in the state of Alabama.
03:41
But in places where abortion is not illegal at this
03:45
point in time, in the country,
03:47
this, this kind of law could make it illegal.
03:51
you know, ties back into this,
03:53
this ploy that we have seen for anti abortion activists to
03:58
pass this kind of law to be able to criminalize abortion nationwide
04:03
you know, what they've wanted to do all along.
04:06
And so, so we're really concerned about that.
04:09
Well, thank you so much,
04:10
Lupe. We really appreciate,
04:11
you know, your you being on the show.
04:13
And I also wanted to ask where can people find you?
04:17
Oh, well, folks can find me personally at,
04:19
at Lupe and Rodriguez on both Twitter and Instagram and they can
04:23
find our organization Latina Institute at,
04:26
at Latina Institute on Instagram and Twitter as well.
04:29
Amazing. Thank you so much for your time.
04:31
I appreciate it. Thank you and enjoy your Friday.
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