Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) speaks to reporters on his way to a closed-door lunch meeting with Senate Republicans at the U.S. Capitol November 7, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., on Thursday couldn’t seem to figure out whether he supports or opposes the Alabama Supreme Court’s unprecedented Tuesday ruling that frozen embryos are children — or exactly what the determination even was. In the span of just three minutes, according to HuffPost, Tuberville flip-flopped on his stance, first stating he is “all for” the court’s decision before saying he opposes the impact of the ruling.
From there, the Alabama Republican voiced support for fertility treatments like IVF, which some clinics have paused in the ruling’s wake out of fear of prosecution for wrongful death if they destroy unused embryos, and said he wanted to delve more into the legislation before providing additional comment. There is no legislation.
“I was all for it,” the Republican senator began when questioned by reporters at the Conservative Political Action Conference, later going on to assert that Americans “need to have more kids” and an opportunity to do so. But when a reporter noted that state health clinics have stopped IVF treatments, Tuberville dismissed it as part of a separate conversation on abortion. When corrected, the congressman insisted he knew and agreed “people need to have access.”
HuffPost asked his reaction to Alabama women who will lose access to fertility treatment. It’s “unfortunate” and “hard,” Tuberville said. “Really hard. Because again, you want people to have that opportunity. We need more kids. I’d have to look at the entire bill, how it’s written. I have not seen it.” Corrected again, Tuberville snapped that he was aware it wasn’t a bill but hadn’t looked at it.
After downplaying the ruling’s significance to another reporter, Tuberville backtracked, agreeing that it has sparked conversation and that fertility treatments are a non-partisan issue. “We don’t need that,” he said of the decision’s effect on clinics. “We need people to have an opportunity to have kids.”
Asked by another reporter whether he disagrees with the court’s determination that embryos are children, then, he said he’d have to look into it more before walking away. “I haven’t seen that.”
The panel of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” marveled at Tuberville’s answers.
“Oh my God,” exclaimed host Mike Brzezinski, adding that the senator “clearly doesn’t know what IVF is.”
“You know, he had no idea,” agreed co-host Joe Scarborough. “You know, it’d be like Forrest Gump if he got the ball and just ran in circles. He was just running in circles, he was getting dizzy.
“This is such a nightmare for Republicans politically, they know it,” he added.
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