A Democratic super PAC is targeting Republicans over the issue of in vitro fertilization (IVF) in the battleground state of Arizona, as Democrats step up their attacks on reproductive access ahead of the 2024 elections.
The Progress Action Fund, which notably ran the “Ohio Republicans in Their Bedroom” ad that took aim at Republicans over abortion access ahead of a special election last year at the center of abortion rights, has released a new ad featuring Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) on Monday called it “Republicans stealing your baby.”
The ad, which was paid for by the Progress Action Fund and first shared with The Hill. shows a couple with their son, who was conceived through in vitro fertilization, before a Republican congressman tries to block access to in vitro fertilization.
“I still can’t believe this beautiful girl is ours,” said the couple’s husband says in the 30 second adbefore the wife adds: “Our little IVF miracle.”
“Sorry, she’s not yours anymore,” the Republican congressman says in the ad as he takes the baby away, later adding “I’m your Republican congressman. We made IVF illegal and we will not allow you criminals to create it.”
“You can’t do that, she’s our baby!” the wife says before the Republican congressman ends the ad by saying, “I won the last election, so it’s my decision. If you want a baby, you have to make one the old-fashioned way, and I’ll be watching.”
The ad is part of a $250,000 advertising buy and will run in Arizona on connected TVs, streaming services and online platforms, according to the Democratic super PAC.
The ad campaign highlights how Democrats seek to target Republicans on the issue of reproductive access ahead of a crucial election. Democrats have leaned into the abortion issue as its relevance has endured long after Roe v. Wade. Wade has been overruled.
But after the Alabama Supreme Court issued a ruling earlier this year ruling that frozen embryos were children and halting access to in vitro fertilization before lawmakers scrambled to implement a solution, Democrats sought to broaden their message to reach Republicans on the IVF issue too.
After the ruling, Democrats targeted Republicans who supported the Life at Conception Act; Meanwhile, many members of the Republican Party have sought to express their support for fertility treatment. But Republicans debated how to proceed, especially as legislation seeking to protect access to in vitro fertilization was stalled in the Senate along party lines.
“Republican politicians are cruel extremists who will stop at nothing to take away the reproductive freedom of all Americans,” said Joe Jacobson, founder and executive director of the Progress Action Fund, in a statement.
“Voters have made it clear that they do not want deranged Republican politicians invading their bedrooms, their doctors’ offices, their pregnancies or any part of their personal lives.”
Arizona particularly became ground zero in the battle over abortion access when the state Supreme Court last month upheld an 1864 abortion law that blocks nearly all abortions.
Several Arizona Republicans joined Democrats in the state legislature to later repeal that law, but the issue energized Arizona Democrats and showed how volatile abortion access can be across the country.
“Republicans are waging war on families,” Swalwell said in a statement, saying Republicans wanted to ban IVF.
“Given the Arizona State Supreme Court’s recent actions to uphold a near-total ban on abortion, Republicans in Congress blocking a bill to protect in vitro fertilization treatments, and former President Trump’s appointment of judges who believe that life begins at conception, politicians and judges have woven into one of the most personal decisions – when and how to become a family.”
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
