In vitro fertilization (IVF) has become a political minefield for Republican Senate candidates as they seek to balance their stated support for access to IVF with their beliefs that life begins at conception.
Democrats sought to force the issue this week with a vote on legislation that would make women’s access to in vitro fertilization a national right. All but two Republicans voted against the motion, preventing the bill from moving forward.
At the same time, Southern Baptists — the country’s largest Protestant denomination, widely seen as a bellwether for evangelicals — voted to oppose the use of in vitro fertilization, underscoring the competing pressure on Republicans.
And all of this comes at a time when the Republican Party has largely played defense in the political field since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Wade, which led dozens of states to ban or impose severe restrictions on access to abortion.
Protecting in vitro fertilization has become a major campaign issue for Democrats after an Alabama Supreme Court ruling froze access to the treatment in the state, and the party wants to force Republican candidates across the country to respond to uncomfortable questions about the full impact of fetal personality.
“For months, Republicans have been rushing to cable news, telling every camera in sight that — just like their emcee, Donald Trump — no one cares more about women than they do… and that all they want in this scary post -The reality of the Alabama decision is to defend Americans’ access to in vitro fertilization,” Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) said Thursday after the Senate vote.
“Well, that’s bullshit.”
In the months following the Alabama decision, Republicans on the campaign trail were quick to praise his support for in vitro fertilization.
“My goal is to promote a culture of life. IVF is a vital tool for families struggling with infertility. I’m for anything that promotes people having more babies and strong families,” said Bernie Moreno, a Trump-backed businessman running for Senate in Ohio against Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. on the social networks in February.
But Moreno, who is supported by the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro Life America, has also repeatedly said he thinks life begins at conception.
“Conservative Republicans should never give up their belief that life begins at conception and that abortion is the murder of an innocent baby,” Moreno said on social media in 2022.
In February, Moreno said during a radio interview that his Catholic faith “teaches that life begins at conception.”
Moreno’s campaign did not respond when asked whether he would have supported the Senate Democrats’ bill.
In a 2022 interview with the right-wing media outlet Breitbart, Pennsylvania Republican David McCormick, who was running for Senate, said he believes “life begins at conception” and that he supports “judicial rulings and legislation that…ultimately analysis, moves us in a direction where there is no abortion.”
But now, as he mounts a second campaign, the language that says “life begins at conception” is no more on your website.
McCormick published an op-ed in March saying he would “always support access to IVF.”
“As a senator, I would work to protect this important option for the millions of Americans who depend on it to start their own beautiful families,” McCormick wrote.
His campaign did not say whether he would have voted for the Democrats’ bill.
The Republican Party’s response to the Alabama court ruling has forced politicians to consider the new political reality that reproductive rights have been a winning issue for Democrats.
Republicans who opposed abortion rights had to awkwardly explain why they disagreed with the ruling and supported in vitro fertilization even though they believed embryos are babies.
To take control of the narrative, the National Republican Senate Committee (NRSC) told candidates to express their support for in vitro fertilization, oppose restrictions on the treatment and campaign to expand access to it.
“The attempt at moderation that some of these Republican candidates are making is a sign in itself that they know they are on the wrong side. And so far we haven’t seen people believe that,” said Democratic pollster Angela Kuefler.
In response to Democratic attacks, staunchly anti-abortion Republican senators Ted Cruz (Texas) and Katie Britt (Ala.) tried to pass their own bill, which they said was aimed at protecting in vitro fertilization.
They wanted a counter-message to show that they supported in vitro fertilization, without voting for the Democratic bill.
The legislation would have prevented states from receiving Medicaid funding if they implemented the IVF ban. But that would not have prevented a court from restricting the procedure and would have allowed states to pass laws restricting the disposal, storage and implantation of embryos.
It was blocked by Senate Democrats.
Sam Brown, a Trump-backed retired Army captain who is running for Senate in Nevada, said in a statement to The Hill that he would have voted for Cruz and Britt’s bill.
“IVF and other similar fertility treatments are a blessing for so many families seeking the joys of parenthood, and we must ensure these treatments remain accessible to everyone,” Brown said.
But even with their bill, Republicans have largely avoided the key question: If they believe life begins at conception, how should IVF clinics handle viable embryos that don’t implant?
During IVF treatments, multiple eggs are often collected, fertilized, and then frozen to increase the chances of successful implementation and pregnancy. If an embryo is not viable, if genetic abnormalities are identified, or if a patient does not wish to have any more children, common medical practice is to discard them.
This practice is what has led some on the right to question whether in vitro fertilization is at odds with their anti-abortion beliefs, and it is part of the reason Southern Baptists voted to oppose it.
Yasmin Radjy, executive director of Swing Left, which supports battleground Democrats, said Republicans know they should be showing support for in vitro fertilization, contraception and reproductive rights, but instead they are responding to pressure from “ far-right interest groups.”
Radjy noted that the perfect encapsulation of this contrast is Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida), who is fighting a competitive race against former Florida Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D).
On Thursday, Scott released a significant announcement touting his support for IVF and mentioning that his daughter is undergoing IVF treatments.
The ad came after he voted against Democrats’ legislation to protect in vitro fertilization.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
