Jon Stewart: If Anti-IVF Republicans Had Their Way, My Kids ‘Would Not Be Able to Be Had’

Screenshot via The Weekly Show

Jon Stewart called it “incredible” to witness Republicans making arguments against IVF years after he and his wife used the very process and ended up with two children.

Stewart was joined by Melissa Murray, an NYU law professor and podcaster, and Jessica Valenti, founder of the group Abortion, Every Day, on the latest episode of The Weekly Show to discuss reproductive healthcare rights and the consequences of “forced pregnancies.”

In a clip from a larger podcast that will drop on Friday, Stewart kicked things off by expressing shock over where the topic of IVF stands today. The Alabama Supreme Court recently ruled that frozen embryos are unborn children, sparking a heated debate among conservatives with presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump expressing support for IVF. A leading evangelical group also voted this week to condemn the use of IVF.

“This is all informed by my experience with this and this has to do with my family and my wife. We won’t even get into IVF, which is what we had to do to have children, so incredible to me to live in this world now where the children that we desperately wanted would not be able to be had because if these people get their way, there will be no IVF,” Stewart said.

Stewart recalled a medical emergency his wife faced after the birth of their second child and asked if a state could be held “liable” for forcing a woman to carry a baby, only for that woman to face health complications that lead to her death.

Valenti argued doctors are most likely to be held liable, citing the Texas Supreme Court shooting down a lawsuit from 20 women who alleged that abortion restrictions were putting their health at risk.

“Essentially what happened is they blamed the doctors,” she said.

Murray said the ruling lacked “humanity” and argued that there is stress and confusion among doctors about state abortion restrictions.

“This is a court that’s entirely Republican and this was a unanimous decision from the court. Again, completely stripped of any humanity for either the pregnant patient or the doctor who genuinely is worried about if they’re going to lose their livelihood if they make the wrong decision,” she said.

“There is no fix for a process where some women die,” Stewart said.

Watch above via The Weekly Show.