Originally broadcast on March 4, 2024

Even as Alabama scrambles to enact a law protecting in vitro fertilization in the state, the Biden-Harris Administration sees additional challenges that legislation may not be able to quickly fix. Carole Johnson leads the Health Resources and Services Administration, the part of the U.S. Health and Human Services Department tasked with strengthening the health workforce and connecting skilled professionals to rural, urban and tribal underserved communities.

Johnson explains that some health care providers were already reluctant to work in states with restrictive reproductive legislation and the Alabama situation presents a new challenge.

In rejecting Alabama’s Supreme Court decision she says, “It should not be the case that young women in this generation have less rights than I did growing up and we need to change that. We will continue to lean in as an administration supporting women.”