Once again, the Republican nominee for vice president, JD Vance, is trying to go after the Democratic nominee for VP, Tim Walz. Notice I said he’s “trying” to go after Gov Walz.
The criticism de jour is that Walz lied about him and his wife using IVF to conceive their children. Now, let’s look at what Walz actually said.
After the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that embryos created through IVF were considered “children”, ostensibly meaning people could be sued if the embryos were discarded. Walz posted on his Facebook page that he and his wife “have two beautiful children because of reproductive health care like IVF.” (emphasis added)
Additionally, on a podcast last month Walz said that he and his wife wouldn’t have a family if it were not for IVF and the things we need to do reproduction. In other words, Walz did not come right out and say he and his wife used IVF. However, people could have taken his words to mean that.
In reality, Walz and his wife used IUI, intrauterine insemination. Both IVF and IUI are procedures used to help couples experiencing infertility. IVF is when the eggs are extracted from a woman, fertilized in a laboratory with the man’s sperm, and then the resulting embryo (one or more) are directly inserted into the woman’s uterus. In contrast, IUI is when the sperm are placed directly into the uterus. IUI has about a 10% success rate, while IVF has about a 32% success rate.
Vance’s accusation that Walz has lied about IVF just plain falls flat. Whether via IVF or IUI, Walz and his wife had to used assisted reproductive technology in order to have the family they wanted. What Walz said was not a lie. Several fertility doctors have stated it’s common to conflate IVF and IUI. In all likelihood, Walz was trying not to get too technical in explaining his and his wife’s use of fertility treatments.
Either way this is yet another example of how Trump and Vance are out of touch. It shows how much they’re scrambling to find something to use to their advantage. But, like the attack on Walz’s military record, this pasta ain’t gonna stick to the wall!
IMHO. . .
In My Humble Opinion 