Democrats test a battleground theory: IVF fears can win against a ‘pro-choice’ Republican

New Jersey Democrat Sue Altman started hammering her House GOP opponent over in-vitro fertilization after an Alabama court put the issue in the national spotlight earlier this year.

She has not let up since, accusing self-described pro-choice Rep. Tom Kean Jr. of not standing up to “extremists targeting reproductive rights.” Kean, a freshman defending his seat in one of the country’s most competitive House races, called Altman’s critique “dishonest” and said he had a “longstanding commitment” to medical treatments, including IVF. Amid Altman’s attacks, he introduced a bill Friday to provide generous income tax credits for people to help afford the fertility treatment.

That Kean even has to defend himself shows how drastically the election landscape has changed since Altman entered the race last May. Access to the fertility treatment was not part of the national debate even a few years ago. But it is now at the forefront of the 2024 election following the Alabama ruling that frozen embryos could be considered people (the state quickly ushered in new laws that blunted the most severe impacts of the court’s decision).

Tim Walz, the newly selected running mate of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, shared last week how he and his wife depended on IVF treatment to conceive their daughter. It’s the latest example of how reproductive rights has become a central campaign issue following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling overturning Roe v. Wade’s abortion protections, though Republicans have generally been more accepting of IVF access. Still, a faction of conservatives oppose the treatment , raising a new debate over Republican support for reproductive rights.

In New York, where a half-dozen competitive races are likely to factor into House control, Democrats have zeroed in on reproductive rights. Incumbent Democratic Rep. Pat Ryan , for example, launched a withering attack ad last month against Republican challenger Alison Esposito and called her “a direct threat to reproductive freedom.”

In California, an independent campaign arm of Planned Parenthood is running a multimillion-dollar effort focused on several competitive House races.

Democrats across the country have raked in electoral success running on abortion rights since 2022, and Altman’s increasing focus on the issue in New Jersey’s most competitive House race could provide a test case on how effective the message is — and potentially determine control of the House.

Altman has criticized Kean for not backing a bill by Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.) that would explicitly set up protections for the fertility treatment in federal law. That bill has four GOP co-sponsors — all of whom are from competitive House districts, but Kean is not among them.

“Other people in similar districts, other Republicans, have made different decisions than Tom Kean Jr., and to me, it shows that Tom Kean Jr. completely lacks [a] backbone, and he will not stand up for the women of the 7th [congressional district],” Altman said in an interview with POLITICO.

Kean has publicly expressed support for IVF. When the Alabama state Supreme Court ruling came out earlier this year, he called it “ deeply concerning .” And in Congress he’s a co-sponsor of a GOP-led resolution that states the House “strongly supports the access to and use of IVF treatments,” although the measure does not put IVF protections into federal law.

On Friday, Kean also introduced a new bill dubbed the “IVF for Families Act,” which would provide income tax credits matching the costs of fertility treatments — including IVF — with a maximum annual benefit of up to $15,000 .

“Tom Kean, Jr. is pro-choice with over twenty years of votes supporting IVF and women’s rights,” campaign manager Kean MacLelland said in a statement. “When campaigns hit dead ends they start manufacturing issues and that’s exactly what you’re seeing here with Sue Altman. Tom Kean, Jr. has stood up to his party on this issue, whereas Sue Altman continues to embrace the most radical fringes of hers.”

Control of the narrowly divided House could very well run through the 7th congressional district Kean represents. It stretches from the state’s more rural northwest to suburban towns within the New York City commuter belt that used to be Republican but has trended towards Democrats in the Trump era. There are more registered Republicans than Democrats in the district, although it would have gone for President Joe Biden in 2020.

Republicans in Congress have sought to counter Democratic attacks on IVF with their own proposals. Kean is backing a GOP-led bill dubbed the “ Increasing Value for Families ” with HSAs Act — named to fit an “IVF” abbreviation — which doubles the contribution limits people can put into the tax advantage accounts to pay for health care expenses. Backers of that bill say it would help pay for health costs like IVF.

Altman has issued statements and social media attacks on Kean over IVF since the Alabama state Supreme Court ruling, even calling Kean’s support of the “Increasing Value for Families” bill “ weird and gaslighty ” since it does not provide protections for IVF itself. While Speaker Mike Johnson has expressed support for IVF, he said in March that Congress does not “need to play a role” and that states would regulate it.

Kean has pushed back against Altman’s IVF attacks, pointing to his record in public office. When Altman said the congressman is “doing nothing to protect” IVF, Kean cited a bill he voted on 23 years ago during his time in the state Assembly that required health plans to cover infertility treatments like IVF.

“I have a long and established record of protecting IVF for families that began over 20 years ago,” Kean said on X .

It’s not the first time reproductive rights has been a focal point in the 7th district. In 2022, abortion rights featured prominently in the race between Kean and then-Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.) who lost his reelection bid.

During that race, Kean said he supported abortions up to 20 weeks in pregnancy with limited exceptions after that point for rape, invest and to protect the life of pregnant mothers (abortions after 21 weeks of pregnancy are rare and account for only 1 percent of abortions in the U.S.). Kean was also criticized for what was described as a “hidden” webpage in 2022 that claimed he would be a “fierce defender of the sanctity of life.”

Kean, the son of a popular New Jersey governor, was the longtime state Senate Minority Leader in the New Jersey statehouse where he earned a reputation as a moderate.

Altman became involved in New Jersey politics as the state director for the New Jersey chapter of the progressive Working Families Party and was best known for fighting with South Jersey Democratic political boss George Norcross.

The debate over IVF access comes amid the broader fight over reproductive rights — like abortion access, which is expected to feature prominently in the New Jersey congressional race. Altman said that codifying the former Roe v. Wade abortion standard, which allowed abortions until fetal viability, was “the floor of the conversation.” She also dismissed claims from the Kean campaign that she supported “unrestricted abortion” throughout pregnancy.

“There are precious few women who decide to carry a pregnancy all the way for nine months and then out of nowhere, abort it,” she said. “That is a myth, that is not a problem, and the fact that the GOP continues to use that as a talking point … like that's some sort of scientific fact, is extremely frustrating.”