In response to Republicans failing to justify their support for legislation that would threaten IVF access for families across America, DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement:
“Republicans are struggling to figure out how to square their support for extreme anti-choice legislation and their recent attempts to block IVF protections with their lies that they haven’t done either of these things. Hint: they can’t. MAGA extremists in Congress are joining Donald Trump in pushing for a nationwide ban on abortion, as they back House legislation that would threaten IVF access and they’ve blocked essential protections for IVF on the floor of the Senate. The American people won’t buy the MAGA lies – they know that their most basic freedoms are at risk – including the ability to start and grow a family.”
NEW: Extreme Republicans are struggling to explain how they can support IVF despite backing the Life at Conception Act, which could rip away IVF access from families nationwide.
Daily Beast: “Republicans Struggle to Explain Away Their Hypocrisy on IVF”
“When the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos could be considered children, it put an unpopular target on the most effective fertility treatment in the country. It also put a target on the backs of Republicans, with many GOP politicians suddenly facing questions about their long-held beliefs about when life begins.
“Squaring support for in vitro fertilization with the general GOP position—that life begins at conception—is hard enough. But many Republicans, from Donald Trump to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), rushed to do just that in the aftermath of the Alabama ruling.
“And yet, for some GOP lawmakers, there’s a reason why supporting IVF may come off as disingenuous: they’re cosponsors of a bill, ‘The Life at Conception Act,’ that would vow to protect ‘all stages of life, including the moment of fertilization.’
“If you ask these Republicans how they square their newfound public support for IVF with their support for a measure that would undermine IVF, you’ll get some tortured—though, at times, candid—answers.
“‘With difficulty,’ is how Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) responded last week.
“If these GOP lawmakers are relying on medical science to guide their opinions, it’s clear many haven’t done much research.
“But therein lies one of the ironies of lawmakers making health decisions. These Republicans aren’t deferring to doctors to make law; they’re making sweeping statements about when life begins—and then trying to draft laws that conform to those beliefs.
“For fertility expert Dr. Eve Feinberg—an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine—legislation that assigns personhood to embryos is ‘very problematic for IVF.’ … But time and again, Republicans didn’t see any issue with their bill and their sudden support for IVF.
“There are 124 House Republicans who have signed on to the Life at Conception Act—including Speaker Johnson. The bill has become the subject of intense scrutiny after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that embryos created by IVF are legally ‘children.’ … Concerns about clinics being held liable for damage done to the embryos under the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act have had a chilling effect; several Alabama IVF providers have already discontinued the treatment.
“The logic of the Alabama Supreme Court decision underpins the Life at Conception Act. Embryos, supporters argue, are humans and should be treated as such under the law. If the Life at Conception Act passed, experts say it could have massive ramifications for IVF access nationwide.”
“Democrats have also proposed their own IVF safeguards. Rep. Susan Wild (D-PA) introduced a bill to protect IVF in January. But despite the supposed GOP support for IVF, of the bill’s 102 sponsors, not one is a Republican at the moment.”
“Not everyone in the GOP is going for moderation. Some Republican lawmakers were quite forthcoming about their concerns with—even outright opposition to—IVF.”
Senate Republicans blocked basic protections for IVF, while 125 House Republicans have cosponsored the Life at Conception Act.
Associated Press: “Republicans block Senate bill to protect nationwide access to IVF treatments”
Business Insider: “Most House Republicans have cosponsored a bill declaring that life begins from the moment of conception, a position under increased scrutiny after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are ‘unborn children.’
“This Congress, 125 House Republicans — including Speaker Mike Johnson — have cosponsored the ‘Life at Conception Act,’ which states that the term ‘human being’ includes ‘all stages of life, including the moment of fertilization, cloning, or other moment at which an individual member of the human species comes into being.’
“The bill does not include any exception for in vitro fertilization (IVF), a reproductive treatment that allows mothers to fertilize several eggs outside the womb in order to increase the chances of a viable pregnancy.”
NBC News: “But with the landmark Roe ruling protecting those rights gone, efforts by conservative lawmakers and judges to advance fetal personhood bills pose a real threat to some fertility treatments, including IVF, reproductive rights advocates say.”
Politico: “Dozens of congressional Republicans have signed onto so-called personhood legislation with no carve-out for embryos in clinics, which, if enacted, would upend how the procedure is practiced in the United States.”
Donald Trump made possible the Alabama Supreme Court decision that is stopping IVF treatment – and he is still bragging about his role in overturning Roe v. Wade and demanding credit for extreme abortion bans across the country.
New York Times: “[The Alabama ruling was] made possible by the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in its 2022 Dobbs decision, which was a result of Mr. Trump’s appointment of three justices.”
CNN: “How the reversal of Roe v. Wade led to the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos are children”
Trump: “For 54 years they were trying to get Roe v. Wade terminated, and I did it, and I’m proud to have done it. … Nobody else was going to get that done but me, and we did it, and we did something that was a miracle.”
Trump: “After 50 years of failure, with nobody coming even close, I was able to kill Roe v. Wade, much to the ‘shock’ of everyone … Without me there would be no 6 weeks, 10 weeks, 15 weeks, or whatever is finally agreed to. Without me the pro Life movement would have just kept losing. Thank you President TRUMP!!!”
Rolling Stone: “Trump Claims Credit for All Abortion Bans”
Business Insider: “Trump boasts he’s ‘proud’ about his role in overturning Roe v. Wade, the issue that has become ballot-box poison for Republicans”
Rolling Stone: “Trump Says He’s ‘Proud’ to Have ‘Terminated’ Abortion Rights”
Trump campaign radio ad: “And Trump nominated conservative judges, leading to Roe v. Wade being overturned.”
FWIW: “This week, we found more evidence that the Trump campaign has no interest in ‘moderating’ on the issue of abortion. On Monday, his team began running new Facebook video ads targeting voters in Iowa, referring to Trump as ‘THE MOST Pro-Life President in history.’”
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