Ohio Senator JD Vance's views on in vitro fertilization (IVF) have since been clarified after actress Jennifer Aniston went after the Republican vice presidential nominee for his 2021 "childless cat ladies" comments this week.
On Thursday, Aniston, who has previously revealed her struggles with IVF, wrote on her Instagram Story, "Mr. Vance, I pray that your daughter is fortunate enough to bear children of her own one day. I hope she will not need to turn to IVF as a second option. Because you are trying to take that away from her, too."
Newsweek has reached out to Aniston's publicist via email for comment on Saturday afternoon.
The Friends star attached a post about comments Vance made while a U.S. Senate candidate on Fox News' Tucker Carlson Tonight in July 2021 that resurfaced this week.
"We're effectively run in this country, via the Democrats, via our corporate oligarchs, by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they've made, and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable too," Vance said in the 2021 interview.
He continued: "And it's just a basic fact, you look at Kamala Harris, [Transportation Secretary] Pete Buttigieg, AOC [Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez]. The entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children, and how does it make any sense that we've turned our country over to people who don't really have a direct stake in it?"
Newsweek reached out to Vance's press office on Saturday afternoon, which referred to several of the pro-IVF statements the senator has given and legislation he has supported, which is mentioned below.
In February, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos created through IVF are considered children under state law. Under this ruling, theoretically, doctors could be sued for destroying an embryo, potentially making IVF treatment less accessible. Following this decision, Republicans quickly scrambled to convince their base that they support IVF and do not want to make it harder for families to have children.
In an interview with WCMH-TV, an Ohio NBC affiliate, in late February, Vance said he, former President Donald Trump and "pretty much every Republican that I know is pro-fertility treatments."
Trump, the now-GOP presidential nominee, demanded in a social media post following the Alabama Supreme Court's IVF ruling that the state legislature "find an immediate solution to preserve the availability of IVF."
"My view is babies are good, families are good," Vance said in the WCMH-TV interview. "And I want there to be as much access to fertility treatment as possible. And I think 99 percent of people agree with me, Democrat, Republican, or in the middle."
In a more recent interview with conservative media personality Megyn Kelly, Vance said, "Of course, we want to make it easier for moms and dads to choose life if, of course, they're in a terrible situation where they have fertility problems. I believe babies are a profound moral good."
Vance did vote against the "Right to IVF Act" last month, which was put forth by Senate Democrats to codify broad federal protections for IVF nationwide. Only two Republicans, Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, sided with Democrats in the 48-47 vote, which was shy of the 60 votes needed for it to pass.
However, the Ohio senator did co-sponsor the "IVF Protection Act" that would deny Medicaid funds to states that prohibit IVF pushed by Republicans in the upper chamber. GOP lawmakers tried to pass the bill by unanimous consent last month, but it was blocked by Democrats.
He also joined other Senate Republicans in a joint statement from June 12 that read: "Senate Democrats have embraced a Summer of Scare Tactics—a partisan campaign of false fearmongering intended to mislead and confuse the American people. In vitro fertilization is legal and available in every state across our nation. We strongly support continued nationwide access to IVF, which has allowed millions of aspiring parents to start and grow their families."
Meanwhile, Vance was one of three Republican co-sponsors on Florida GOP Senator Rick Scott's resolution "expressing support for starting and growing a family through in vitro fertilization."
fairness meter
About the writer
Rachel Dobkin is a Newsweek reporter based in New York. Her focus is reporting on politics. Rachel joined Newsweek in ... Read more
