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What’s next for IVF after a controversial legal ruling · Apple News Today

• 0:00
  [INTRO MUSIC BEGINS]
• 0:05
  Mark Garrison, Narrating: Good morning! It's Wednesday, February 21st.
• 0:07
  I'm Mark Garrison, in for Shumita Basu.
• 0:10
  This is Apple News Today.
• 0:12
  Coming up, the uncertain fate of IVF treatments after a legal ruling,
• 0:17
  unions under fire in Florida, and the sad, short lives of today's appliances.
• 0:25
  [MUSIC FADES OUT]
• 0:27
  But first, let's take a brief look at some other stories in the news.
• 0:31
  The World Food Program is pausing deliveries to northern Gaza.
• 0:35
  It says aid workers were facing gunfire and looting, with a, quote,
• 0:38
  "collapse of civil order in the region."
• 0:41
  The agency says it wants to resume deliveries as soon as possible.
• 0:45
  And for the third time,
• 0:46
  the U.S. vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution
• 0:49
  calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
• 0:51
  The U.S. said the resolution would undermine hostage negotiations.
• 0:55
  It has drafted its own resolution calling for a temporary ceasefire,
• 0:59
  but it's unclear when it could come to a vote.
• 1:01
  Also at the U.N.,
• 1:02
  a group of human rights experts says there are credible allegations
• 1:05
  of executions and sexual assault against Palestinians by the Israeli military.
• 1:10
  Israel has rejected the group's claims.
• 1:13
  In New York, Attorney General Letitia James tells "ABC" that she's ready
• 1:17
  to take strong action against former President Trump,
• 1:20
  including taking control of his buildings,
• 1:22
  if he can't come up with the cash to pay the $355 million civil fraud fine.
• 1:28
  [START ABC ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 1:29
  Letita James: If he does not have funds to pay off the judgment,
• 1:31
  then we will seek judgment enforcement mechanisms in court,
• 1:35
  and we will ask the judge to seize his assets.
• 1:38
  [END ABC ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 1:39
  Garrison, Narrating: Trump is appealing the ruling.
• 1:42
  And in sports,
• 1:42
  Lionel Messi starts his first full Major League Soccer season today.
• 1:46
  [GLOOMY MUSIC FADES IN]
• 1:47
  In the league's season-opening match, he'll lead Miami against Salt Lake City.
• 2:05
  When Roe v. Wade was overturned,
• 2:07
  reproductive rights activists warned that IVF could be targeted in courts.
• 2:11
  Now we have a major new ruling affecting frozen embryos.
• 2:15
  [MUSIC FADES OUT]
• 2:16
  In Alabama, the state Supreme Court recently ruled that frozen embryos
• 2:19
  created during IVF have the legal status of children.
• 2:23
  The case involved an incident at a fertility clinic.
• 2:26
  A patient dropped and destroyed frozen embryos
• 2:28
  that belonged to other people.
• 2:30
  They sued the clinic using an 1872 state law
• 2:33
  involving wrongful death of minors.
• 2:36
  The Alabama Supreme Court ruled that the law applies to, quote,
• 2:39
  "unborn children."
• 2:41
  Frozen embryos are a major part of the IVF process.
• 2:45
  Clinics try to have enough to increase the chances of getting pregnant.
• 2:48
  Some people have more embryos than they eventually use.
• 2:51
  And many people keep embryos frozen for years,
• 2:54
  in case they're needed in the future.
• 2:55
  [START ALABAMA REFLECTOR ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 2:56
  Alander Rocha: You can end up with something like 10 fertilized eggs,
• 2:59
  but you may only want to have one child.
• 3:01
  [END ALABAMA REFLECTOR ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 3:02
  Garrison, Narrating: "Alabama Reflector" reporter Alander Rocha is on the story.
• 3:05
  [START ALABAMA REFLECTOR ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 3:05
  Rocha: So, what these parents are concerned about is, will I have to pay for this
• 3:10
  for the rest of my life?
• 3:11
  And will my children have to pay to keep the frozen embryos stored?
• 3:15
  [END ALABAMA REFLECTOR ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 3:15
  Garrison, Narrating: This ruling means clinics could now be sued over destroyed frozen embryos.
• 3:20
  Patient advocates worry that this ruling could limit or even end IVF in Alabama.
• 3:25
  [START ALABAMA REFLECTOR ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 3:25
  Rocha: They're scared that providers simply won't want
• 3:29
  to provide these services if they're under the constant threat of litigation.
• 3:34
  [END ALABAMA REFLECTOR ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 3:35
  Garrison, Narrating: And it's likely this doesn't end in Alabama,
• 3:37
  that similar cases will come up in other states.
• 3:40
  Around one in six people are affected by infertility,
• 3:43
  so any rulings threatening IVF treatment could limit options for a lot of families.
• 3:48
  The CEO of the National Infertility Association
• 3:50
  told Rocha about the painful uncertainty this is creating
• 3:54
  for people who want children.
• 3:56
  [START ALABAMA REFLECTOR ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 3:56
  Rocha: She said that right now the rights of these embryos
• 3:59
  are no longer in the hands of the people who created them.
• 4:02
  And this could be appealed and it could change,
• 4:05
  [DRAMATIC MUSIC FADES IN]
• 4:05
  but right now, people just don't know what to do.
• 4:08
  [END ALABAMA REFLECTOR ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 4:18
  Garrison, Narrating: Unions have been flexing their muscles in America lately,
• 4:21
  with auto workers and Hollywood actors and writers striking.
• 4:24
  But in Florida, many unions are struggling.
• 4:26
  About a year after Governor Ron DeSantis
• 4:28
  signed a sweeping anti-union bill into law,
• 4:31
  waves of teachers, accountants, janitors and other government workers
• 4:35
  are in danger of losing their union protection.
• 4:38
  Rich Templin, with Florida's AFL-CIO,
• 4:40
  spoke to the public broadcaster "WLRN" about the law's impact.
• 4:44
  [START WLRN ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 4:45
  Rich Templin: The work conditions of these hundreds of thousands of people
• 4:48
  are going to be up in the air.
• 4:49
  And that's real lives, right? That's not politics,
• 4:53
  that's not pro-union, anti-union. It's none of that.
• 4:56
  It's people's lives are going to be upended.
• 4:59
  [END WLRN ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 5:00
  Garrison, Narrating: The law decertifies a union if it doesn't meet certain standards.
• 5:04
  It requires 60% of members to pay dues, a higher bar.
• 5:08
  But it also makes those dues harder to collect by ending the standard practice
• 5:12
  of automatic paycheck deductions.
• 5:14
  If public sector unions don't have enough dues-paying members,
• 5:18
  they face losing their collective bargaining rights.
• 5:21
  They have to get enough worker signatures or win a new union election
• 5:25
  to be able to continue.
• 5:27
  Last year, Governor DeSantis and other Republicans argued
• 5:29
  that these changes would make unions engage with their members more.
• 5:33
  [START ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 5:33
  Govenor Ron DeSantis: If you don't have a sufficient number of joining,
• 5:35
  then that should not be the bargaining unit
• 5:38
  if you don't even represent the majority of people.
• 5:41
  [END ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 5:41
  Garrison, Narrating: But many labor leaders say
• 5:42
  the law was designed to be difficult to comply with,
• 5:45
  and the actual goal is wiping unions out.
• 5:48
  And they point to a double standard:
• 5:49
  It does not apply to unions
• 5:51
  that have historically supported Republicans for law enforcement,
• 5:54
  firefighters and correctional officers.
• 5:57
  One labor economist told "WLRN,"
• 5:59
  Florida's law might be one of the strongest anti-union rules
• 6:02
  ever passed by a state.
• 6:04
  [RELAXING MUSIC FADES IN]
• 6:04
  And the story shows tens of thousands of workers have already lost
• 6:07
  their collective bargaining rights,
• 6:09
  even though those rights are protected by Florida's constitution.
• 6:22
  Finally, your dishwasher is gonna die.
• 6:25
  And your oven, washing machine, and fridge.
• 6:28
  All of our appliances eventually let us down and have to be replaced.
• 6:32
  [MUSIC FADES OUT]
• 6:32
  The problem today, as "The Wall Street Journal" reports,
• 6:34
  is that appliance lifespans are getting shorter and shorter.
• 6:38
  You might expect your stove to last a lot longer
• 6:40
  than the ones your grandparents used.
• 6:42
  But often these days,
• 6:43
  the newer the appliance, the sooner is breaks.
• 6:46
  And that means we're spending a lot more to repair and replace them.
• 6:50
  The stats are pretty brutal.
• 6:52
  Household spending on appliances is skyrocketing.
• 6:55
  So are requests for repairs.
• 6:57
  "The Journal" looks at all the reasons behind this.
• 6:59
  One is that appliances are much more complicated now.
• 7:02
  It might sound pretty sweet to have a machine that promises
• 7:04
  to craft perfectly symmetrical ice cubes or preheat your oven through an app.
• 7:09
  But more technology means more stuff that can break, often expensive stuff.
• 7:14
  Also, the latest machines are more likely to be made of plastic
• 7:17
  and aluminum rather than steel.
• 7:19
  The less durable material is less likely to last.
• 7:22
  So what are we supposed to do?
• 7:24
  Appliance experts say think twice before you buy a new machine
• 7:27
  with a lot of fancy sounding features.
• 7:30
  The YouTube channel "Word of Advice" puts it this way.
• 7:33
  [START YOUTUBE ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 7:33
  Undisclosed Speaker: If you have appliances that are working good
• 7:35
  and they have no problems, I would not replace them.
• 7:38
  [OUTRO MUSIC FADES IN]
• 7:39
  They're probably going to outlast any new units that you put in.
• 7:43
  [END YOUTUBE ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 7:43
  Garrison, Narrating: You can read the whole journal piece on unreliable appliances
• 7:46
  and all the stories we talked about in the Apple News app.
• 7:48
  And if you're already listening in the News app right now,
• 7:50
  we've got a Narrated Article coming up next.
• 7:52
  "Rolling Stone" speaks with young Black voters
• 7:54
  who helped Biden get into office in 2020.
• 7:57
  This time around, they aren't so sure about supporting him.
• 8:01
  If you're listening in the Podcasts app,
• 8:02
  follow Apple News Plus Narrated to find that story.
• 8:05
  And I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
• 8:12
  [MUSIC FADES OUT]