Winning for Women, a GOP group aimed at electing female candidates, rolled out an ad campaign on Monday highlighting GOP incumbents’ efforts to keep in vitro fertilization accessible.
The ad campaign will run in the home districts of Reps. Lori Chaves-DeRemer (R-Oregon) and Michelle Steel (R-Calif.), who both face competitive races.
The campaign highlights both incumbents’ support of the HOPE Act, bipartisan legislation that aims to improve access to infertility treatments, including IVF.
According to the group, the campaign is the first time a “right of center organization has run a major advocacy campaign” in support of IVF.
“Our endorsed women recognize the profound impact IVF has on millions of women and their families. Despite the false narrative from the Left, they’re leading the fight to deliver new hope through legislation to make IVF treatments more accessible and affordable,” said Winning for Women’s executive director Danielle Barrow.
The ad is a part of a $500,000 investment that will run across mail, text, and phone advocacy platforms.
The effort comes as Democrats seek to attack Republicans over the issue of access to IVF as part of the party’s broader messaging on protecting reproductive rights.
Democrats argue that the GOP opened the door to an Alabama Supreme Court ruling in February that frozen embryos could be considered the same as children. The decision temporarily halted the procedure in the state.
Many Republican lawmakers have said that embryos should be considered children, while others have pushed to protect access to IVF.
Last month, former President Trump said he wants to make the GOP a “leader” on IVF and vowed that his administration would fund IVF treatments.
The Harris campaign fired back, saying the remarks were disingenuous.
“Donald Trump’s own platform could effectively ban IVF and abortion nationwide. Trump lies as much if not more than he breathes, but voters aren’t stupid,” the campaign said in a statement.
“Because Trump overturned Roe v. Wade, IVF is already under attack and women’s freedoms have been ripped away in states across the country. There is only one candidate in this race who trusts women and will protect our freedom to make our own health care decisions: Vice President Kamala Harris.”
