A bill currently moving through the Missouri legislature would redefine "abortion" in state law — and buried in the fine print is language that could threaten access to in vitro fertilization (IVF) and some forms of birth control.

The bill defines abortion as any act intended to destroy the life of "an embryo or fetus in his or her mother's womb." Legal and reproductive health experts warn that language like this — which implies legal standing for an embryo from the moment of fertilization — is a form of personhood provision. And personhood provisions raise serious questions about the legality of IVF, which routinely involves the creation and sometimes the non-implantation of embryos.

"As personhood provisions grow in the state code, it brings up the question: At what point are we granting the legal rights of a person and placing those rights above the individual themselves?" said Kimya Forouzan of the Guttmacher Institute, according to South Dakota Searchlight.

IVF has helped millions of American families have children. It should not become collateral damage in the fight over abortion definitions.

We are calling on the Missouri Legislature to remove personhood language from this bill before it becomes law. Redefining abortion to clarify medical exceptions is one thing — quietly granting embryos legal rights is another. Missouri families who rely on fertility treatments deserve better.