Calling on Mississippi House to reconsider radical ART Bill

TUPELO, Miss — AFA Action, the Government Affairs Affiliate of the American Family Association, is calling on the Mississippi House to reconsider a radical ART (assisted reproductive technology) amendment inserted into an unrelated bill (HB 1688). Proposed by Medicaid chair Rep. Missy McGee, the amendment mirrors language pushed by Democrats in the U.S. Senate. Like the U.S. Senate bill (S. 3612), the amendment is titled, the “Access to Family Building Act.” The amendment is almost verbatim to the language proposed in the U.S. Senate by Illinois Democrat Senator Tammy Duckworth.

“The bill being considered by the Mississippi House is very close to the radical bill recently sidetracked in the U.S. Senate by our own pro-life Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith,” said Walker Wildmon, CEO of AFA Action. “The Mississippi bill could be used to sue Christian employers and hospitals and potentially violates the religious and free speech rights of medical professionals. HB 1688 is completely unnecessary because Mississippi’s law already allows for IVF and our wrongful death statutes are different from Alabama’s.”

The U.S. Senate bill, and the related Mississippi bill, have gained attention following a recent Alabama state supreme court decision that frozen embryos qualify as “minor children” under Alabama’s wrongful death statute. The Alabama ruling did not prohibit IVF. Mississippi’s wrongful death statute applies only to a child able to move within the womb. IVF is currently allowed in Mississippi and is largely unregulated.

“By establishing a statutory right to ‘assisted reproductive technology’ (ART), HB 1688 creates an unrestricted right to destroy unborn children as part of very broadly defined ‘treatments or procedures,’” said Wildmon. “This could include a ‘right’ to manufacture designer babies, create three-parent embryos, and engage in human cloning.

“Whatever the intent of this bill, the actual language does not provide compassionate care to couples considering IVF. The bill’s effect will be to remove any kind of guardrails on an out-of-control ART industry. We look forward to working with the Mississippi House to craft language that respects the dignity of human life and protects the religious freedom rights of Christian employers and health care providers.”

For more information on how to stand up to this latest government attack on reproductive rights, click here.

AFA Action is a non-profit 501(c)(4) organization dedicated to advancing biblical, family values in society and government by educating and influencing public policy. The mission of AFA Action is to inform and mobilize individuals to strengthen the biblical foundations of America by persuading individuals with the truth of the Gospel, challenging the lost to repent, promoting societal values that are consistent with Scripture, restraining evil and exposing the works of darkness, motivating people to take a stand on cultural and moral issues, and encouraging Christians to bear witness to the world the love of Jesus Christ. Find AFA Action Alerts here. 

View the media page for AFA here. For more information on American Family Association, visit www.afa.net or follow AFA on Facebook or Twitter @AmericanFamAssc.        

For more information on AFA Action, visit www.afaaction.net or follow AFA Action on Facebook or Twitter.

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To interview an AFA or AFA Action spokesperson, contact [email protected] or Beth Bogucki, 610.584.1096, ext. 105, or Daniel Moyer, ext. 104.