Sometimes the miracle of life needs a little help.
That’s where IVF, or in vitro fertilization, comes in handy. Since it was first used to conceive a baby girl in 1978, the technology has helped millions of Americans become families. And its use has only grown more common. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine estimates that some 95,860 babies were born via IVF in 2023 alone.
You’d think a pro-life party that staunchly opposes abortion and promotes natalism would welcome any advance that helps American families grow more bountiful.
And yet, just in time for everyone’s family gatherings this week around the Thanksgiving table, the Young Republicans of Texas passed a resolution opposing IVF. In a statement that failed to even spell Gov. Greg Abbott’s name correctly, the group applauded the state’s abortion ban and President Donald Trump’s moves to cut funding for Planned Parenthood. But because IVF “often results in the discarding of multiple embryos,” the group urged those leaders to go further by banning IVF, too.
Texas Republicans need to publicly reject this radical – and unpopular – position.
It’s admittedly a sensitive topic for the right. After the Alabama Supreme Court ruled in 2024 that embryos created using IVF were, in fact, children, Republicans across the country scrambled for reassurances from their elected officials that they would protect the technology. Abbott gave his tacit support for IVF at the time.
“Texas is a pro-life state,” Abbott told CNN then. “We as a state want to ensure that we promote life, we bring more life into the world and we empower parents to be able to have more children.”
Trump, likewise, has offered his support. So has Sen. Ted Cruz.
For now, the opposition seems to be coming from the fringes.
But we know what can happen with fringe political opinions in Texas. They become law. From anti-vaccine policies to vouchers to a particularly harsh abortion ban. Despite attempts to protect women facing life-threatening medical emergencies, that abortion ban has failed to protect the women’s lives it claims to value. ProPublica has reported the death of yet another mother, Tierra Walker, in December 2024. She was not offered an abortion even though one of her doctors wrote in her medical record that she was at “high risk of clinical deterioration and/or death.”
OPINION: Pregnancy put Tierra’s life at risk. She saw 90 doctors. Not one offered an abortion.
Can we count on our leaders to defend Texas families and their dreams? Time and again we’ve seen radical positions that polls show are widely opposed become the party platform. These hard shifts to the political extremes are often driven by an election process that encourages candidates to cater to the small group of highly motivated voters who show up to primaries. These voters aren’t, generally speaking, reflective of the broader attitudes of Texans. Ongoing efforts by some Republicans to close their primaries to all but party loyalists will only give more power to the partisan extremes. First abortion. Then IVF. What next? Birth control?
We may not be optimistic that our leaders will stand up for Texas families but voters certainly can. If Texans commit to showing up, not just during the general election, but during the primaries when their voices arguably matter most, we can guide our politics away from the fringes and toward common-sense policies.
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