DCCC memo: Vulnerable House Republicans are 'all talk, no action' on IVF after Alabama ruling

WASHINGTON – The House Democrats’ campaign arm is going on the offensive against Republicans on in vitro fertilization following the Alabama Supreme Court’s controversial ruling that frozen embryos should be considered children.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is circulating a memo, first shared with USA TODAY, attacking vulnerable House Republicans for being “all talk, no action” on IVF and promising “to make House Republicans’ blatant disrespect for women and families a defining campaign issue.”

The memo takes aim at a pair of resolutions House GOP lawmakers introduced last week expressing support for continued access to IVF and new protections for the procedure. The resolutions, considered non-binding, have no impact on federal law. 

The DCCC in the memo dismissed the efforts as a “weak partisan stunt” which “does absolutely nothing to protect women and families seeking in vitro fertilization treatment to start or grow their families,” singling out swing-district Republicans who signed on to the measures.

Related:Senate Republicans support IVF – but most won't back national protections after Alabama ruling

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Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., introduced one of those resolutions last week supporting IVF in light of the ruling “that has jeopardized access to in vitro fertilization and other assisted reproductive technology.” 

Reps. David Schweikert, R-Ariz., Don Bacon, R-Neb., Nick LaLota, R-N.Y., Anthony D’Esposito, R-N.Y., and Jen Kiggans, R-Va., who co-sponsored Mace’s resolution, are highlighted in the DCCC’s memo. All of those lawmakers represent districts President Joe Biden won in the 2020 election and are considered to be some of the most vulnerable members in the 2024 elections.

The memo also derides a similar, competing non-binding resolution introduced last week by Reps. Michelle Steel, R-Calif., Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Ore., and Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz., who are also Republicans representing Biden-won districts. 

“These fake moderates are attempting to use resolutions to distract voters from their true goal of policing women’s bodies,” the memo reads. “But the DCCC won’t let them get away with it.”

Heading into a crucial election year, Republicans rushed to distance themselves from the Alabama Supreme Court’s ruling last month and quickly voiced their support for the procedure. Alabama state lawmakers passed legislation last week protecting IVF after former President Donald Trump called on the legislature to protect it.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said at a weekly news conference last week that IVF “needs to be readily available” and he could not “think of a single person in the Republican conference who disagrees with that statement.”

Democrats have seized on the Alabama IVF ruling as part of their broader messaging efforts against Republicans on abortion and reproductive rights as the GOP continues to struggle with the electoral fallout after the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion in 2022. 

House Majority PAC, Democrats’ largest super PAC focused on House races, released a memo last month railing against Republicans who signed on to the Life at Conception Act, GOP-backed legislation that would have defined a human being as humans “at all stages of life, including the moment of fertilization.” The bill does not include any carveouts for IVF. 

'Express support for IVF':Senate GOP campaign arm to candidates after Alabama embryo ruling