Last month, while the doctor handed my wife and me our precious baby boy for the first time, my phone was buzzing with notifications about political attacks claiming my party doesn’t support in vitro fertilization, the very procedure that made this special moment possible.
Let me put that to bed. Republicans support IVF.
My wife and I struggled through over three years of IVF, part of our 7½-year journey to get to this moment — the birth of our first child. When we decided to start IVF, I was nervous to be open about it because I had been told repeatedly that those who shared my religion, political party and ideology had reservations about IVF. Yet every time I talked to a conservative colleague, a fellow Republican and even devout Catholics, the answer was always supportive: “We will pray for you. We really hope it works!”
Never once have my wife and I felt judged for our choice. In fact, some people we thought would be the most judgmental ended up being the most supportive, repeatedly checking in to ask how the process was going and how my wife was holding up through the exhausting process.
In my various roles and positions, I interact with hundreds of influential center-right leaders throughout the country on a daily basis. And I can happily report that since Alabama made IVF a national talking point, not a single time in those conversations has a single one of those leaders expressed any opposition to IVF. Some shared reasonable concerns over ensuring embryos are treated properly during the process, a concern I also share, and I am grateful to my wife’s medical team for working within those ethical and moral parameters.
In fact, center-right support for IVF is nearly universal, from former President Donald Trump to top federal and state Republican leaders to conservative grassroots organizations. The National Republican Senatorial Committee recently reported the findings from a nationwide survey conducted by political consultant Kellyanne Conway. The poll revealed robust support among conservatives — including 78% of people who identify as “pro-life” and 83% of evangelicals — nearly matching the 85% level of support among Americans in general.
So why is there this narrative that Republicans oppose IVF? Sure, we have a few knuckleheads more interested in getting likes than making policy, such as U.S. Rep. Mary Miller. But just like I don’t call all Democrats flag burners because Chicago Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez spoke at an event recently that involved flag burning, it’s unfair to call all Republicans anti-IVF because of a few outliers.
The main source of this political attack is from Republicans in the U.S. Senate blocking Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s IVF bill. Why would they do that? Well, although it hasn’t been widely reported, the bill contains several “poison pills” that Republicans cannot support, such as waiving the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and potentially subjecting religious and anti-abortion rights organizations to lawsuits, as U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., highlighted.
We Republicans have said repeatedly that we support IVF, and we would back a clean bill that ensures legal access to IVF. But notice that Duckworth isn’t saying “let’s work together on that bill.” Republicans aren’t going to co-sponsor her bill as is — because they cannot. It’s a cheap political ploy in an election year, one I hope voters are smart enough to see through.
IVF aligns with many of the foundational tenets of the Republican Party: It is in favor of life, families and individual freedom.
As a prominent Catholic leader said to my wife and me after the birth of tiny Theodore Rex (yes, we named our child T. Rex): “I don’t care how your baby got here. He is a miracle and a gift from God that should be celebrated.”
Collin Corbett is founder of Cor Strategies, a Chicago-area political strategy group.
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