Republicans address 'complex' IVF issue as Dems step up messaging

Rep. Byron Donalds would “broadly support” federal protections for in-vitro fertilization, the Florida Republican said Sunday in the wake of an Alabama Supreme Court decision that threatened the future of the procedure in the state.

“Like any type of bill that gets drafted on Capitol Hill, I want to see the devil in the details. But, yes, I could — I feel I could broadly support that,” he said during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” when asked about possible federal legislation protecting the procedure.

The Alabama ruling granting personhood rights to embryos has rocked the GOP, complicating the party’s standing with millions of people who may oppose abortion but support — and in some cases use — in vitro fertilization and other forms of fertility care.

Particularly at issue is what to do with the excess embryos that don’t end up being used during IVF procedures. Alabama’s decision prevents those embryos from being discarded, effectively blocking the procedure from being practiced in the state. Several clinics have already paused their operations.

Former President Donald Trump, the current frontrunner in the GOP presidential contest, declared his support for in vitro fertilization treatment and called on Alabama lawmakers to preserve access to it.

“Like the OVERWHELMING MAJORITY of Americans, including the VAST MAJORITY of Republicans, Conservatives, Christians, and Pro-Life Americans, I strongly support the availability of IVF for couples who are trying to have a precious baby,” he said in a post on Truth Social.

But Republicans have struggled to address the underlying premise of the decision — that embryos are people and cannot be discarded.

This is a very “complex” issue, Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said Sunday during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“I'm not sure everybody has really thought about what all the potential problems are, and as a result no one really knows what the potential answers are,” he said.

Democrats were quick to hammer Republicans over the issue in the wake of the decision. The Biden campaign wasted little time accusing Trump of trying to divert attention away from the role he played in ending Roe v. Wade after he issued his statement in support of IVF.

“American women couldn’t care less what Donald Trump posts on Truth Social, they care that they can’t access fertility treatment because of him,” said campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez. “Let’s be clear: Alabama families losing access to IVF is a direct result of Donald Trump’s Supreme Court justices overturning Roe v. Wade. Trump is responsible for 20 plus abortion bans, restrictions on women’s ability to decide if and when to grow a family, and attacks on contraception.”

On Sunday, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer echoed the campaign.

“We've always known that with the appointments that Donald Trump made to the United States Supreme Court, that IVF, that a woman's ability to make her own decisions about her body and all the panoply of things that come from that were in jeopardy,” the Democratic governor said during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.” The Alabama ruling is “a natural extension of that,” she added.

And Democrats aren’t likely to slow down on hitting Trump and Republicans on the message, Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) said Sunday.

“This is what we're going to be talking about. We're going to talk about the fact that Donald Trump is the guy and Republicans have been working — literally, for years — to take away your reproductive choice, which includes access to IVF for people struggling to start families,” Duckworth said during an interview on ABC’s “This Week.”