Michigan Republicans say they oppose IVF restrictions
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Republican candidates for Michigan's open Senate seat told the Detroit News last week that they support in vitro fertilization, but Democratic rivals are skeptical.
Why it matters: IVF is top of mind for many after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos created through IVF are children under state law, Axios' Carly Mallenbaum writes.
- In vitro fertilization accounted for 1.9% of all births in Michigan in 2021, according to the most recent CDC data.
By the numbers: Michigan had 2,015 babies born in 2021 with the use of assisted reproductive technologies like IVF, according to the CDC.
- More than 4,000 embryo transfers were performed in order to get that number of infants.
The intrigue: Michigan Republican candidates for Senate — Mike Rogers, Peter Meijer and Justin Amash — all told the Detroit News they don't believe in restrictions on IVF.
- Meijer and Rogers signed onto versions of the Life at Conception Act during their time in Congress, which advocates say would limit certain aspects of IVF treatments.
Yes, but: Both said they wouldn't support legislation that would restrict IVF.
The other side: "My Republican opponents' records on abortion and IVF are public for everyone to see, and the hypocrisy is hard to stomach," U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, who's also running for Senate, tells Axios.