EXCLUSIVE — Republican Senate challenger Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania says he intends to be a staunch proponent of in vitro fertilization , with tax breaks for the expensive fertility treatment being an essential portion of his pro-family policy plan.
“I will be a strong advocate for IVF,” McCormick told the Washington Examiner in an exclusive interview. “I think it’s a great contribution to society.”
McCormick’s pro-family plan is an ambitious one. It includes several points, including doubling the federal child tax credit, which was last increased as part of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and temporarily boosted even higher in 2021.
But an essential plank in McCormick’s plan is providing families with a $15,000 tax credit for fertility services such as IVF. The goal is to help families who might be struggling to conceive a child.
All of these policies cost money, though McCormick said the potential outcome and return on investment for such proposals is worth it.
“As a businessperson, I’m looking for investments that have a high return on investment and pay now to avoid enormous costs later,” he said.
Typically only wealthier couples and individuals can afford IVF, which can cost between $12,00 and $30,000 per cycle. Many women, however, have to undergo more than one course to become pregnant and deliver a child.
McCormick said he believes that financially limited access to IVF is not fair, noting that infertility affects growing families across the socioeconomic spectrum who are struggling to conceive.
Bad economy partly behind population decline
McCormick said he is deeply concerned about falling birth rates in the United States and sees pro-family economic policies as the solution to the growing problem.
“I’m very much in favor of policies to support families, and my position on abortion is that I think we need to find common ground,” he said. “I basically think we need to be pro-family, pro-woman, pro-children and these kinds of policies are in line with that.”
The U.S. total fertility rate , or the average number of children a woman will have in her lifetime, plummeted to 1.62 in 2023, the lowest level in a century according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .
This trend has continued to decline since 2007, when the total fertility rate reached the replacement rate of 2.1 births per woman. Demographers define the replacement rate as the number of births that will keep a population stable, with no growth or decline.
McCormick said he thinks a major reason for the falling birth rate is economics. He said it has become increasingly difficult to afford building a family, particularly since President Joe Biden entered office. Since January 2021, inflation has surged more than 19%, according to the consumer price index.
“So this was to basically step back and holistically say, 'OK, what are the root causes of this problem, and what are meaningful policy choices that could be in favor of not only creating families but having robust, healthy families that create great citizens,'” McCormick said.
Countries such as Poland and Hungary , also concerned with falling birth rates, have adopted other pro-natal and pro-family policies, such as tax breaks for women with multiple children. However, financial incentives for IVF are not as common.
According to the CDC, over 86,000 children in the U.S. in 2021 were conceived via IVF. That’s about two in every 100 children born each year in the U.S.
Discussing the falling birth rate in the context of pro-family economic policies is an increasingly hot topic among Republicans in this year’s election cycle. In interviews with the Washington Examiner, GOP Senate candidates Kari Lake of Arizona and Bernie Moreno of Ohio brought up the matter.
One argument for more spending on family creation is that, eventually, a growing population will create a larger base of taxpayers who will spend money and grow both the country’s gross domestic product, a broad measure of economic growth, and tax base.
McCormick suggested a swath of financial incentives, such as Medicaid covering one year of postpartum care for the mother and school-choice vouchers, as part of his pro-family plan.
The campaign also wants to make paid family and medical leave employer tax credit permanent and backs the creation of tax-free savings accounts for families to pay up to $10,000 per year in child-care costs.
“The kinds of investments that increase productivity, increase families, increase the number of new citizens, contribute to the fact that those citizens will become productive contributors to our economy,” he said. “Economically, that’s the path out of this.”
Senate is embroiled in IVF battle
If successful in his bid for office, McCormick will walk into an intense battleground in the Senate on IVF.
The renewed controversy comes following the Alabama Supreme Court ruling this year that embryos created for IVF constitute children under the state’s unique fetal personhood laws.
The court’s decision came as a result of a complicated wrongful death case after a patient wandered into a cryogenic nursery in a Mobile, Alabama, hospital through an unsecured doorway and destroyed five embryos intended for IVF.
IVF critics have highlighted that this was only one of many cryogenics lab accidents in the U.S. that have also resulted in the destruction of embryos without the parents’ consent.
Critics of IVF are quick to point out that the procedure, as practiced in the U.S., results in the creation of multiple embryos per session. This means that not only are nonviable embryos destroyed but also parents of embryos can consent to their destruction if the parents decide they no longer want children, presenting a deep moral conflict for those who believe life begins at conception.
Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), launched a campaign in June to expand access to fertility treatments through health insurance and for military members and veterans. The only Republicans to support the measure were Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME).
Republicans, led by Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Katie Britt (R-AL), introduced a bill that would prohibit states that accept Medicaid funds from legislatively blocking IVF and other fertility treatments, but the bill has not gained significant traction.
Pro-family versus anti-abortion
Despite the possible overlap, McCormick said that there is a “huge” distinction between anti-abortion and pro-family policies.
“You know, listen, I’m a conservative, I believe in a whole set of conservative principles, but on the issue of abortion and a number of these things, I think we need to find common ground,” said McCormick, the father of six daughters. “I think we need to recognize and respect the views of people across this divide. I think we need to show empathy.”
Pennsylvania is deeply divided between rural religious conservatives who might oppose IVF’s embryo destruction protocols and urban and suburban voters who have more centrist or left-wing approaches to abortion and reproductive matters, making walking the line in an election challenging.
When asked specifically whether he believes life begins at conception, a key objection for critics of IVF, McCormick said there are a number of important points that people see differently.
“I recognize that there will be people on both sides of the debate that won’t be in agreement with me, but that’s OK,” he added.
Common ground on no abortion after viability
McCormick believes abortion policy should be left to state legislators but is opposed to late-term abortions, or those that are performed after fetal viability.
For McCormick, one point of common ground on abortion could be imposing more restrictions on abortion after fetal viability, which doctors debate is between 20 and 24 weeks of pregnancy depending on the circumstances.
“And the reason for that is that the state takes on a responsibility for another human being in this equation when a fetus is viable,” McCormick said. “And so when I say that I’m very much opposed to late-term abortions, that's what I mean. That's where the state's obligation becomes paramount.”
McCormick is "pro-life" but opposed to a nationwide abortion ban, according to his campaign website. He also supports exceptions in the cases of rape, incest, and saving the life of the mother. Pennsylvania law, which makes abortion legal through 24 weeks of pregnancy, has been supported by both Democrats and Republicans in the state, according to his campaign.
Doctors debate that viability can start between 20 and 24 weeks of pregnancy, depending upon the health of the mother and child.
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McCormick took the opportunity to criticize Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (D-PA), his opponent, and said the three-term Democrat supports late-term abortion. Casey’s father, former Gov. Bob Casey Sr , was a strong anti-abortion Democrat.
In the 2022 midterm elections, Republican state senator Doug Mastriano lost his bid for the gubernatorial election in large part due to his hard-line stance on abortion.
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