U.S. House Republicans under scrutiny for supporting conception bill in wake of Alabama IVF ruling

(CNN) — Republicans who expressed support for in vitro fertilization in the wake of the controversial Alabama Supreme Court ruling are coming under scrutiny for also backing legislation that declares human life begins at conception, without an exception for IVF — two positions that appear to be at odds with one another, in the latest example of Republicans struggling to thread the needle on reproductive rights issues.The Life at Conception Act – which was introduced in January 2023 by GOP Rep. Alex Mooney of West Virginia and has& 125 total Republican sponsors in the House, including House Speaker Mike Johnson – defines the term “human being” to include “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.”The bill does not include a carveout for IVF, though it does state& that nothing in the bill should “be construed to authorize the prosecution of any woman for the death of her unborn child.”However, a Senate version of the bill — which was last introduced back in 2021 — makes an explicit exception for IVF.That measure, sponsored by GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, says, “Nothing in...