IVF treatment faces ‘clear and present danger’ from US anti-abortion effort

Warning from reproductive rights advocate comes as US states pass or debate legislation that would give full rights to embryos

In vitro fertilization treatment is facing a clear and present danger" and could be a casualty" of some of the proposed anti-abortion laws that are emerging across the US, according to a key advocate of reproductive medicine.

The warning comes as US states, including Louisiana, have passed or are debating new proposed legislation that would give full rights to embryos, which in some cases means fertilized eggs, created in the process of IVF and not implanted in a woman, would have the same legal rights as children.