By Maya Mehrara
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Vice presidential candidate Tim Walz called out his rival JD Vance's stance on in-vitro fertilization (IVF) in a clip that has resurfaced on social media.
Vance, who positions himself as a pro-family politician, has suggested he is in favor of IVF, although he — along with almost all Republican senators — recently voted against the Right to IVF Act, which would establish a federal right to IVF treatments, making them more affordable and accessible.
Walz, whose two children, Hope and Gus, were born through IVF, appeared on the "Pod Save America" podcast on July 30, before he was announced as Kamala Harris' running mate.
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Asked about his response if he were accused by Vance of "attacking our families," he said, "If it were up to him, I wouldn't have a family, because of IVF, and the things that we need to do reproductively."
Walz previously made similar comments on July 25, writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, "Even if you've never gone through the hell of infertility, someone you know has. When Gwen and I were having trouble getting pregnant, the anxiety and frustration blotted out the sun. JD Vance opposing the miracle of IVF is a direct attack on my family and so many others."
In the podcast interview, Walz went on to discuss how he has worked to invest in prenatal care and make having families more affordable for Americans by providing free school meals in Minnesota and pushing for paid family medical leave.
He continued, "I'm not going to back down one bit on this whole family values thing and it's us, that construct that he's putting out there is absolutely untrue."
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Clips from the interview were recirculated across TikTok and X on August 7, after Walz was officially named as Harris' running mate.
Vance's views on fertility came to the forefront when a clip of him speaking on Tucker Carlson Tonight in July 2021 resurfaced after his candidacy was announced. In the interview, he said, "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."
He also mentioned Kamala Harris, as well as Democrats Pete Buttigieg and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, by name, suggesting that they shouldn't be in positions of power because they don't have biological children.
Discussions about the future of IVF surfaced in February after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are "children" when outside of the womb, referring to a law from 1872, according to USA Today.
Walz has protected abortion rights and access to reproductive healthcare in his home state by signing a bill in January 2023 ensuring that the protections under the 1995 Minnesota Supreme Court decision known as Doe v. Gomez remain in place.
Harris, who has made protecting and reinstating reproductive rights for women across the U.S. a major part of her campaign, met with Walz at a Minnesota abortion clinic six months ago.
Sharing his support for IVF families and protecting reproductive rights, Walz has detailed his own family's journey with fertility treatments, which his wife Gwen underwent for seven years before their first child was born.
During his introductory speech at a rally in Philadelphia on August 6, Walz said, "It's not by chance that we named our daughter Hope."
Newsweek has reached out to JD Vance for comment.
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