A picture of Congressman Matt Rosendale’s office in Washington, D.C.
In a video posted Tuesday afternoon, Rep. Matt Rosendale, a Republican from Montana, said that taxpayers fund more “child deaths than Planned Parenthood.”
The message is part of a series of social media posts and press releases that demonstrate the lame-duck, far-right politician’s hard-line on the subject of in vitro fertilization. It also represents a break with the GOP (and the Democrats) on the controversial subject.
Taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to fund more child deaths than Planned Parenthood
It’s time for Congress to stop funding IVF and end this immoral practice! I urge @RulesReps to allow my amendment to move forward. pic.twitter.com/1qVawEb7DP
— Matt Rosendale (@RepRosendale) June 25, 2024
The rationale for the statement concludes with an amendment that he is championing which would defund the Department of Defense’s IVF program, essentially cutting off that option for any active member of the U.S. Armed Forces. But the debate also demonstrates the difficulty of discussing reproductive freedom within the Republican Party in Congress.
Rosendale said that he believes that life begins at conception, a view shared by many members of his party. And Rosendale has also said that if someone believes that life begins at conception, the embryos created as part of the IVF process that are later discarded or are not successful represent a “child death.”
That is a view that seems extreme for both the Republican Party and extreme for the Montana Congressional delegation.
According to a recent poll, 60% of Montanans favor some form of reproductive rights, including abortion and IVF.
Sen. Steve Daines, a Republican leading the national effort for the GOP to flip the U.S. Senate back to Republican control, has been trying to spread the message that his party may oppose abortion, but it supports IVF, which helps with fertility and starting families.
“Sen. Daines fully supports IVF,” said a Daines spokesperson on Thursday.
Montana’s other U.S. House member, Rep. Ryan Zinke, also a Republican, broke with Rosendale on the issue, too. Zinke is also a former Navy Seal commander.
In a “X” (formerly Twitter) post made in March, Zinke said, “IVF makes the miracle of parenthood possible for so many families, I unequivocally support continued access to the treatment.”
IVF makes the miracle of parenthood possible for so many families, I unequivocally support continued access to the treatment.
— Rep Ryan Zinke (@RepRyanZinke) March 8, 2024
His office confirmed that his position since that post has not wavered.
While the other Montana Republicans responded with their support, they were silent on their positions about whether they believe that life begins at conception, and how that fits into their support of IVF.
Meanwhile, Montana’s lone Democrat in the delegation, has said that nothing should come between a woman and her doctor, and expressed support for IVF and for military members to access it through the Department of Defense.
“Veterans and servicemembers who risked their lives fighting for our country deserve quality health care options when it comes to trying to start or grow their families,” said Tester. “I will always fight to protect Montanans’ freedom to make their own health care decisions, which is why I’m fighting to pass this legislation that will protect veterans and servicemembers’ access to IVF and other critical family-building treatments. Montanans of all stripes don’t want the federal government telling them what health care they can and cannot access, and I’ll take on anyone looking to limit or strip away our veterans’ and troops’ personal freedoms.”
It’s difficult to gauge the public support for the Rosendale’s measure overall, but it appears that the amendment that Rosendale has championed will go nowhere, as Congressional Republicans line up to affirm their support of the procedure. A smattering of support for the idea that IVF is equal to abortion has gained some traction in places, namely in Alabama where a “personhood” afforded embryos protection as people. The law has since been changed, but the opposition to IVF on moral grounds continues.
Although Rosendale’s position on IVF appears to be out of line with most members of Congress, his views align with some conservative churches and his own faith tradition, Roman Catholicism.
A treatise explaining the Roman Catholic Church’s position on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops states the Catholic Church is unequivocally opposed to IVF for several different reasons, including that it is not done through “the marital act,” and also raises questions about the embryos themselves.
“Invariably several embryos are brought into existence; only those which show the greatest promise of growing to term are implanted in the womb. The others are simply discarded or used for experiments. This is a terrible offense against human life. While a little baby may ultimately be born because of this procedure, other lives are usually snuffed out in the process,” said John Haas in a position paper explaining the church’s view, “Begotten not Made: A Catholic View of Reproductive Technology.”
Meanwhile, both political parties have been trading barbs and plans to protect the procedure, both at the Department of Defense, and outside the military.
Earlier in June, Senate Democrats attempted to bolster reproductive rights and IVF in a bill that saw several GOP Senators support the measure. Ultimately, the Democrats were rebuffed when Senate Republicans halted the measure because 60 votes were needed in order to pass the legislation. Republicans said they supported IVF, but the Democrats’ bill “went too far.”
A day earlier Sens. Katie Britt, R-Alabama, and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, failed to pass a measure that would have blocked Medicaid funding from going to any state that bans IVF, but that also failed because Democrats objected to it saying the bill wouldn’t have stopped states from classifying frozen embryos as children.
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