He detailed how he and his wife turned to IVF to have children.
At a campaign rally in Philadelphia, vice presidential candidate and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz spoke to an enthusiastic crowd about his personal experiences with in vitro fertilization (IVF), a fertility treatment that many Republicans are quick to support for fear of losing voters.
“This is very personal to my wife and I,” Walz said, describing his family’s experience with IVF. “When Gwen and I decided to have children, we went through years of fertility treatments. I remember praying every night that I would get the call and it would be with good news. The phone would ring, the tightness in my stomach, and then the agony when I would find out the treatments hadn’t worked.”
“It was no coincidence that when we welcomed our daughter into the world we named her Esperanza.”
At rallies across the country, Walz also stressed that even if people don’t make the decision for their families, it’s crucial for them to mind their own business.
“Even if we didn’t make the same decision, there is one golden rule: mind your own business. Look, that includes IVF.”
This procedure is often used by same-sex couples who want to start a family and is the most common method of assisted reproduction. Because the procedure requires the creation of fertilized eggs that are unlikely to result in pregnancies, many on the right oppose the procedure.
Walz is a staunch advocate of reproductive freedom. After Roe contra Wade was repealed in 2022, pushing through legislation requiring Minnesota to be a safe state for anyone attempting to receive the reproductive health procedure.
Her stance is not unpopular, either. According to recent polls, a majority of Americans, including a majority of Republicans, support access to IVF. After the Alabama Supreme Court ruled in February that frozen embryos are legally children (a ruling that caused several clinics to stop providing IVF treatments), Republicans in the state rushed to pass legislation protecting the right to IVF without addressing the fundamental question of whether frozen embryos are legally children.
But Republican support for IVF is often shakier. Republican vice presidential candidate and Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) is a case in point. He previously voted against a Democratic-backed bill in the Senate that would have protected the right to IVF at the federal level, but he continues to say he is in favor of IVF.
“Republicans have made it clear that they support IVF; the vast majority of Republicans have. There is no effort to roll back IVF,” said Mark Graul, a Republican strategist in Wisconsin. Political“I think it’s part of a broader strategy, from the Democratic perspective, to put as much focus on abortion as possible, this being just one piece of that puzzle.”
Walz posted her support for IVF on X and said she opposes the actions of people like Vance, who have voted against it.
“Even if you’ve never been through the hell of infertility, someone you know has. When Gwen and I were having trouble getting pregnant, anxiety and frustration overshadowed the sun. For JD Vance to oppose the miracle of IVF is a direct attack on my family and many others,” she said.
Even if you’ve never been through the hell of infertility, someone you know has. When Gwen and I were having trouble getting pregnant, anxiety and frustration overshadowed the sun.
JD Vance’s opposition to the miracle of IVF is a direct attack on my family and many others.
—Tim Walz (@Tim_Walz) July 25, 2024
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