Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois accused Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett of opposing in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments based on a pro-life advertisement Barrett signed in 2006.
An open message to my Republican colleagues:⁰⁰You stood up. You applauded. You cuddled my beautiful daughter when she became the first infant on the Senate floor.⁰⁰So now I ask—how could you support a Supreme Court nominee who supports those who believe Maile shouldn't exist?
— Tammy Duckworth (@SenDuckworth) October 2, 2020
To all my Republican colleagues who met my Maile that historic day—I urge you to look within your souls.
Look within & consider whether someone who supports those beliefs is capable of serving as an impartial justice for ALL Americans on the highest court in the land. For life.
— Tammy Duckworth (@SenDuckworth) October 2, 2020
The advertisement by St. Joseph County Right to Life, which was first reported by The Guardian, was published in the South Bend Tribune 14 years ago and expresses the group’s opposition to abortion but makes no mention of IVF.
“We, the following citizens of Michiana, oppose abortion on demand, and defend the right to life from fertilization to natural death. Please continue to pray and end abortion,” it read.
The IVF procedure creates human embryos and discards those parents and doctors consider excess, unfit, or “non-viable.” Millions of human embryos have been discarded as a result of IVF. Yet the advertisement Barrett signed says nothing about this procedure, only the value of human life. It appears that Duckworth believes human personhood is at odds with the procedure she used to obtain children.
Duckworth wrote a letter to her colleagues in the Senate claiming Barrett’s endorsement of a pro-life group that believes humans begin at conception could be dangerous to people like her, who procured two daughters through IVF treatments. One of Duckworth’s daughters was the first baby ever allowed on the Senate floor.
“In my case, with both of my girls, they looked at two or three fertilized eggs, not even embryos at this point, and said, you know, this one isn’t very viable,” Duckworth stated. “The third discarded could result in my doctor being criminalized.”
“If she takes a seat on the Supreme Court, with everything that she’s clearly done in the past, in terms of supporting groups that believe life begins at fertilization, IVF procedures are very much at risk,” Duckworth told Fox News.
So the smear is that ACB signed a pro-life letter for an organization that, more than a decade later, merged with an organization that *contrary to Catholic teaching* believes IVF should be criminalized, and yet ACB was supposed to foresee this *14 years ago.*
Gross. https://t.co/MHLPo7u1y4
— Emily Zanotti (@emzanotti) October 2, 2020
These claims by Duckworth come just weeks before the Senate is scheduled to vote on Barrett’s confirmation to the Supreme Court. Since her nomination, Democrats and the corporate media have attacked Barrett’s Catholic faith and pro-life views. Despite Barrett’s insistence she will remain fair in her judicial role, many have accused her of imposing her beliefs on the American public even before she is confirmed.
Despite Duckworth’s claims, Barrett has not personally taken a stand on the practice of IVF. Fifty-two percent of Americans also believe life begins at conception. Duckworth’s litmus test would prevent their views from being represented on the Supreme Court.
In her letter, Duckworth claims that St. Joseph County Right To Life is “an organization whose views are considered radical even within the larger anti-choice movement.” She went on to claim that Barrett’s public endorsement of the group and its beliefs back in 2006 poses a threat to IVF and should be considered as “disqualifying” and “insulting” by Republicans during her confirmation.
“I fear that, if confirmed to the nation’s highest Court, Judge Barrett would be unable to resist the temptation of overturning decades of judicial precedent in an effort to force every American family to adhere to her individual moral code,” Duckworth wrote.
“We could get to a place where families are not able to have children, and birth control could not happen—we could get to a place where active military men and women who want IVF won’t be able to and this is really heartbreaking,” she warned.
Duckworth also said in a recent interview that she will not sit down with Barrett to ask her about her stance on IVF before voting against her confirmation.
When I learned that Donald Trump’s hand-picked Supreme Court nominee was supportive of a group that believes IVF is equivalent to manslaughter—my heart sank.
Without IVF, my two little girls would not exist. pic.twitter.com/w9Xr4VGdyo
— Tammy Duckworth (@SenDuckworth) October 2, 2020
While many praised Duckworth for taking a supposed stance for women and families, some pointed out that Duckworth presented exaggerated, unsubstantiated claims about Barrett in her allegations.
Exactly — 15 years ago she signed a letter supporting life. She did not sign anything about IVF.
Saying that because she agreed on one broad view she must agree on every other issues is dishonest.
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) October 2, 2020
First they screamed Barrett was going to usher in forced pregnancy through Handmaid's Tale rituals.
Now they're screaming she's going to imprison doctors performing IVF treatments.
— Chad Felix Greene (@chadfelixg) October 3, 2020
