Mobile Courant

U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) has joined Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), James Lankford (R-OK), Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-KS), and Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) in requesting an audit by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on safety standards at fertility clinics. The objective is to ensure the protection of human embryos under their care. This request comes as Congress deliberates on legislation related to in vitro fertilization (IVF).

The senators are calling for a comprehensive review of incidents like the one at the Center for Reproductive Medicine in Alabama, where failures resulted in destroyed embryos and distressed parents. They also seek information on how federal data on fertility clinics is collected and published, aiming to provide mothers using IVF with accessible information regarding pregnancy success rates and clinic quality.

“Mothers in this situation make a substantial emotional, financial, and personal investment, and rightly expect that fertility clinics will protect and respect human life—and keep treasured embryos safe,” wrote the senators. “Women expect transparency with access to accurate pregnancy success rates and the certification status of the fertility clinics they are considering,” they continued. “It is unclear, however, whether CDC is implementing the law in such a manner as to maximally benefit the mothers it purportedly seeks to empower.”

Under current federal law, clinics performing IVF must report annually on their success rates and certification status. Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publishes an annual report on this data, recent reports have lacked information on whether certified clinics maintain adequate safety standards for embryos or details about warning letters issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to non-compliant laboratories.

According to available data from 2021, 39 out of 453 Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) clinics reporting to CDC had no accreditation, while 33 operating clinics did not comply with reporting requirements.

Senator Tuberville has also recently opposed claims by the Biden administration regarding IVF protections in Alabama. He represents Alabama in the United States Senate and serves on several committees including Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, and HELP.