麻豆传媒

After Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court, physicians and other experts have expressed concerns that emerging political efforts and laws may have the potential to negatively affect access to fertility treatments, such as in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), in his first speech since Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris picked him as her running mate, addressed his connection to the use of fertility treatments.

"When my wife and I decided to have children, we spent years going through infertility treatments," Walz said at the rally, which was held in Philadelphia earlier this week. "And I remember praying every night for a call for good news, the pit in my stomach when the phone rang, and the agony when we heard that the treatments hadn't worked."

"So, it wasn't by chance that when we welcomed our daughter into the world, we named her Hope," he added.

The New York Times has subsequently that the Walz family used intraueterine insemination (IUI) instead of in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Earlier in his speech, Walz noted that he "learned the art of compromise without compromising my values" during the time he served in Congress representing a rural part of Minnesota that had historically leaned conservative.

"Some of us are old enough to remember ... when it was Republicans who were talking about freedom," Walz said. "It turns out, now, what they meant was, the government should be free to invade your doctor's office."

"In Minnesota, we respect our neighbors and their personal choices that they make," he continued. "Even if we wouldn't make the same choices for ourselves, there's a golden rule: Mind your own damn business."

As governor, Walz signed , making Minnesota the first state after the overturning of Roe v. Wade to do so. Walz also signed legislation protecting patients who receive abortions and their providers from arrest and extradition for accessing or providing care that is legal in Minnesota.

"We're putting up a firewall to ensure Minnesotans have the freedom to make their own healthcare decisions," Walz said at the time.

In February, an Alabama Supreme Court ruling that embryos created through IVF can be considered children, meaning that people could potentially be sued for destroying them.

Walz has also expressed support for a bill introduced in the Minnesota House of Representatives that would require Minnesota health plans that offer maternity coverage to also cover fertility treatment. In addition, he has called for language to be added to his state's abortion-rights law that would further guarantee access to IVF.

According to HHS, infertility affects millions of Americans at some point in their lives, due to factors like age and health conditions, among others. There are also same-sex couples or individuals without a partner who seek fertility options. In 2021, more than 86,000 infants born (or 2.3% of all infants born in the U.S.) were conceived through the use of assisted reproductive technology, including IVF.

Notably, ob/gyns recently warned that there is no "alternative" to IVF, after new Republican-led legislation proposed directing federal funds to "restorative reproductive medicine," defined in the bill as "any scientific approach to reproductive medicine that seeks to cooperate with, or restore the normal physiology and anatomy of, the human reproductive system, without the use of methods that are inherently suppressive, circumventive, or destructive to natural human functions."

Walz seems primed to remain a staunch supporter of access to IVF and other fertility treatments.

"When the Vice President and I talk about freedom, we mean the freedom to make your own healthcare decisions," he said during his speech.

Correction: This story was updated to reflect new reporting that the Walz family used IUI instead of IVF.

Comment