In response to Donald Trump’s VP contenders voting against a bill to protect access to IVF, DNC Spokesperson Aida Ross released the following statement: 

“In their latest attack on reproductive freedom, the MAGA Republicans vying to be Trump’s running mate have made clear that their dangerous anti-choice agenda includes going after access to IVF for millions of Americans who want to start a family. The American people know that our fundamental freedoms are on the line in this election, and today’s vote gives them another reason to reject Trump and whichever extremist joins his ticket this November.”

NEW: The vast majority of Senate Republicans voted against protecting access to IVF, including many of Trump’s MAGA VP contenders.

The Hill: “Senate Republicans block legislation to codify IVF access”

“Thursday’s vote comes a week after Republicans blocked a similar bill from Democrats that would have guaranteed the right to contraception.”

Republicans who voted against include: J.D. Vance, Marco Rubio, Tim Scott, Tom Cotton, Bill Hagerty, Katie Britt, Marsha Blackburn, Joni Ernst, and Mike Lee.

Trump’s VP contenders have backed legislation that could rip away access to IVF and railed against legislation to protect IVF. 

Business Insider: “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.”

Republicans who cosponsored this legislation in the House include: Byron Donalds, Wesley Hunt, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Michael Waltz.

Republicans who cosponsored this legislation in the Senate include: Tim Scott, Marsha Blackburn, and Bill Hagerty.

Vanity Fair: “On Wednesday, Senate Republicans are expected to object to Tammy Duckworth’s Right to Build Families Act, because, surprise: They don’t actually care about families and aren’t ‘pro-life.’

“‘It’s idiotic for us to take the bait,’ Senator J.D. Vance told Politico, as though the measure were some kind of political trap. (He also noted that he had not actually read the bill yet.)”

Politico: “Though some, including Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), have said they’re willing to consider the legislation, other conservatives, such as Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), insist it’s unnecessary, dismissing the idea that other states could quickly follow in Alabama’s footsteps.

“…he insisted to reporters Tuesday there is ‘no threat to IVF’ that would require congressional action.”

Associated Press: “Republicans block Senate bill to protect nationwide access to IVF treatments”

Politico: “In Congress, anti-abortion groups are vowing to penalize GOP members if they support pro-IVF bills they believe go too far. … They want lawmakers to seize the moment created by the Alabama decision to impose restrictions on the way IVF is commonly practiced in the U.S.

“Some Republicans [sic] lawmakers are heeding the anti-abortion movement’s concerns.”

AL.com: “[Katie Britt], who is pro-life, did not comment on whether she agrees with the court ruling that frozen embryos are ‘children.’”

VP contenders also celebrated Trump’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, which made extreme attacks on IVF access possible. 

J.D. Vance: “I think that what I really think on – so first of all the Dobbs decision everybody knows overruled Roe v. Wade I think that was the right decision.”

Doug Burgum: “Well, my position is that I support the Dobbs decision…”

Elise Stefanik: “Since Roe was overturned and the Supreme Court restored the correct interpretation of our Constitution, 25 states have life saving laws on the books.”

Tim Scott: “I was proud to vote to confirm Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett, and I have never been prouder than I was last June 24 when they ignored the angry mobs, followed the Constitution, and overturned Roe v. Wade. The Dobbs decision further bolstered the right to life and allowed our nation to begin repairing a terrible decision.”

ABC News: “Noem, a Republican, celebrated the high court’s finding that there is no constitutional guarantee to abortion access…”

Sarah Huckabee Sanders: “Sanders Releases Statement After Supreme Court Overturns Roe v. Wade”

“For decades, this is a day so many of us have prayed for and worked towards. I am thankful for the brave resolve of the six Supreme Court justices who – while receiving death threats and extreme political pressure – did what is right…”

Tom Cotton: “Roe was a tragic mistake, taking from the American people and their elected representatives a deeply moral question. The Supreme Court has finally corrected this mistake and I highly commend the millions of Americans who toiled for years to achieve this great victory for unborn life and self-government.”

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”

HuffPost: “Abortion rights advocates have warned that the anti-choice movement would come for IVF and fertility treatments once Roe v. Wade fell. Currently, more than a dozen states are considering laws that would enshrine fetal personhood, threatening IVF and other fertility treatments.”

Reminder: The majority of Americans overwhelmingly reject the MAGA  agenda to rip away women’s reproductive freedoms. 

ABC News: “Americans continue to support IVF and abortion access”

“The vast majority of registered voters, 80 percent, think IVF should be legal.”
Navigator Research: “Large majorities say reproductive care like birth control pills and IVF should be made easier to access, including majorities of Republicans. … Americans across party lines also say access to fertility planning like IVF should be easier to access, including 72 percent of Democrats, 59 percent of independents, and 53 percent of Republicans.”