Tim Walz has described his family’s IVF experience. But they used a different procedure
By: CHRIS MEGERIAN (AP News)
Alabama courts did not halt IVF treatments. That claim is a flagrant lie that isn't even told well. The Alabama Supreme Court ruled that embryos created as part of the IVF procedure are children. The immediate result was opening the door for civil suits against IVF providers over destruction of embryos. When money is involved, these liberal institutions suddenly become very conservative.
The more important implication of the Alabama ruling that has Democrats up in arms is that embryos are children. The impact on Democrats' abortion arguments should be obvious.
The fact that Tim Walz misrepresented (or misspoke, to be generous) that he and his wife utilized IVF only adds another layer to the dishonesty of Democrats' politics concerning sex.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
WASHINGTON (AP) — In March, after an Alabama court halted in vitro fertilization procedures in the state, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz decided to speak about his struggle to have children with his wife, Gwen. The same month, his team sent a fundraising email titled "our IVF journey" sharing an article that referenced "his family's IVF journey" in the headline.
And earlier this month, Walz criticized Ohio Sen. JD Vance, the Republican candidate for vice president, by saying, "If it was up to him, I wouldn't have a family because of IVF."
In introducing himself to voters as Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris ' running mate, Walz has made his family's struggle with fertility a central part of his narrative, a tangible way to connect with voters alarmed at the erosion of reproductive rights in the U.S. But Gwen Walz on Tuesday issued a statement that detailed the experience more comprehensively and disclosed that they relied on a different process known as intrauterine insemination, or IUI.
IUI is often attempted before IVF but doesn't face the same level of political controversy because it doesn't risk destroying unused embryos that anti-abortion advocates say equate to unborn children.
"Like so many who have experienced these challenges, we kept it largely to ourselves at the time - not even sharing the details with our wonderful and close family," Gwen Walz said in the statement. "She was a nurse and helped me with the shots I needed as part of the IUI process."
Mia Ehrenberg, a campaign spokesperson, defended Walz's comments and denied that he had been misleading.
"Governor Walz talks how normal people talk," she said. "He was using commonly understood shorthand for fertility treatments."
Vance branded Walz a liar over his previous remarks on IVF.
"Today it came out that Tim Walz had lied about having a family via IVF. Who lies about something like that?" Vance wrote on social media.
The discrepancy on what is considered a deeply personal topic for many families comes as Republicans have been scrambling to poke holes in his biography. He has also faced scrutiny over how he's characterized his time in the military, though his supporters reject any criticism as politically motivated.
The Alabama Supreme Court ruled in February that frozen embryos could be considered children under state law. IVF procedures were temporarily halted, shocking people who were trying to become parents and injecting an emotionally sensitive issue into the national debate over reproductive rights.
Walz brought up the issue during his State of the State address in March. He did not specifically say that his wife underwent IVF treatment, but he did say the Alabama ruling was a "direct attack on my children."
"All we wanted was something that seemed so simple — to have that child," Walz said at the time. "What those judges did was a direct attack on our family."
IUI involves placing a partner's or donor's sperm in the uterus at the time of ovulation. With IVF, a woman's eggs are removed from her body, combined with the sperm and then transferred back into her uterus.
A couple's approach to fertility treatments can differ based on their medical issues and insurance coverage, which sometimes requires attempting IUI before moving toward IVF.
Dr. Jason Griffith, a reproductive endocrinologist at Shady Grove Fertility-Houston, said some patients are confused about the terms when they start treatment. They "come in and say, 'Oh, I want to do IVF,'" he said.
"And you start talking about that, and it's like, 'Wait, that's not what I thought it was — where you just put the sperm into the uterus,' And you have to say, 'Well, no, that's intrauterine insemination,'" Griffith added.
Dr. John Storment, a reproductive endocrinologist in Lafayette, Louisiana, said it's the patients' husbands who often get confused.
Storment added that he doesn't think IUI is under threat at all. "With an IUI, you're just putting sperm into the uterus and hoping that natural fertilization occurs," he said. "The only people who really don't do IUI are the devout Catholics. … They want to conceive naturally or not at all."
Mini Timmaraju, head of Reproductive Freedom for All, formerly known as NARAL, contended that Republicans' efforts to limit abortion, contraception and IVF would have ripple effects that would harm access to procedures like IUI as well. NARAL has endorsed Harris for president.
In talking about their struggle, she said, the Walzes had "put a human face on the struggle with infertility."
Rachel Aplikowski, a spokesperson for the Minnesota Senate Republican Caucus who said she did both IUI and IVF to conceive, said on social media that Walz "needs to apologize personally for exaggerating their struggles."
Amanda Zurawski, who spoke from the convention stage on Monday about her dangerous experience with Texas abortion restrictions, said "it's absolutely disgusting" to suggest that the Walzes' experience was not as difficult as others who used a different procedure to conceive.
"The world of infertility is so isolating," said Zurawski, who has used IVF. "And when you find people who has gone through anything similar, that's a community that you want to be a part of."
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Tim Walz confusing IUI and IVF shows he ain't much of a farmer. Walz sure doesn't know anything about cows. And the thing Walz doesn't seem to know about rocks is you shouldn't throw 'em if you live in a glass house.
Why must Democrats play fast and loose with the truth to defend their sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll lifestyles? It'd be easier for Democrats to just admit their family planning is just a hookup for a no-fault settlement.
He’s very Biden like, always trying to make a story about himself. Like how Biden always claims his son was killed in Iraq when meeting actual gold star parents.
These desperate straw grabbing attacks are embarrassing. The fact is that when IUI isn’t successful the next step is IVF. Republicans want their constituents to endure the ultimate sadness of denial of pregnancy because they think embryos are people in a Petri dish. The Walz family got lucky with IUI, and Republicans would rather spend joyless energy decrying him a liar than celebrate that the Walz’s did not have to destroy embryos. I have a new IVF grand baby and her arrival has brought immeasurable joy to her parents and the extended family. Fuck Republicans and their never ending hate.
Republicans have not banned IVF. Republicans have not called for banning iVF. Republicans are not denying women pregnancies. Women can get as pregnant, as often, as they wish.
It's the family planners and medical practitioners who are concerned about liability and cost. As usual, Democrats are defending monetizing humans for profit.
Not for lack of trying.
House Republicans voted to not protect IVF. Also last June the Southern Baptist Convention voted to oppose the use of IVF and are working to ban the use. Several ultra conservative state legislatures are fighting to add a ban to "the destruction of human embryos" which would shut down IVF services in those states.
It's the family planners and medical practitioners who are concerned about liability and cost. As usual, Democrats are defending monetizing humans for profit.
More straws to grab at. I honestly don’t even know what you are trying to say here, but childless couples and individuals who want to be pregnant are willing to pay what it takes, and accept that that the procedure has no guarantees. It happens thousands of times every day across this country.
The Southern Baptist Convention is not a government legislature. And banning 'the destruction of human embryos' is not a ban on IVF.
Republicans are certainly not trying to prevent women from becoming pregnant. In fact, Democrats are claiming that Republicans are forcing women to be pregnant. The Republican stance has been quite clear and consistent; life begins at conception.
Democrats' IVF arguments are stepping on their advocacy for abortion.
Go ahead. Childless couples who want to become pregnant can make all the babies they want; nothing is stopping them. The only restriction being imposed on childless couples is that they cannot treat unwanted human embryos like garbage.
Interesting considering the current Speaker of the House is an influential member.
Sure it's not. You forget that GA IVF services immediately shut down earlier this year after the State Supreme Court Ruled embryos were protected and the state legislature went into full blown panic mode to carve out an exemption.
Republicans as a group are not monolithic. Some Republicans want to shut down IVF because the practice routinely destroys unwanted embryos.
It's all part of the same ideocracy where some Republicans feel the need to stick the governments nose in people's reproductive choices.
Yup and there is the non-scientific religious nanny state begins. IVF and abortion both end right there.
No. Democrats' position is to protect a women's choice whether they need IVF or an abortion.
Science confirms the embryos are alive and are human. The science of IVF confirms that human life begins at conception.
Democrats' argument is not entirely about woman's choice. Democrats' are also separating human life from personhood. Democrats' argument about personhood regresses to the dark days of chattel slavery. Deomcrats' are returning to their roots.
What does any of that have to do with some Republicans working to outlaw IVF?
The only restriction being imposed on childless couples is that they cannot treat unwanted human embryos like garbage.
FFS, that is pathetic and disgustingly demeaning to every person who has ever been involved with this highly scientific process. Mind your own fucking business. The only ones treating humans like garbage are people like yourself.
The human body contains trillions of microorganisms — outnumbering human cells by 10 to 1. Because of their small size, however, microorganisms make up only about 1 to 3 percent of the body's mass (in a 200-pound adult, that’s 2 to 6 pounds of bacteria), but play a vital role in human health.
An embryo contains no microorganisms, much less that they would outnumber its cells by 10 to 1. There will never be a method to turn an embryo into a human without placing it into a woman. It is not a human, get over it.
Republicans are not working to outlaw IVF. Republicans are working to outlaw the killing of unborn humans.
Yet the highly scientific process refuses to recognize that the produced embryos are both alive and human.
According to Democrats, slaves were only 3/5 of a person. Are humans property or not?
Bullshit. Some are working damned hard, others are blocking their efforts because it's so unpopular.
Saying this doesn't kill IVF is plain willful ignorance.
When someone deflects that wildly it is admission that they have lost the argument. This is why Republicans will lose elections again across the board.
Then they better get working on direct contact with their Creator because the current system is based on survival and 30% of embryos are "dead" by day 5 of most pregnancies. Only 50% make it to birth. That abysmal failure rate is on whatever God you believe in, not Democrats.
The proverbial cramp and spotting, most women never knowing they were in fact pregnant for a few days.
In California when a fertility clinic mechanical failure led to the loss of 3,500 eggs and embryos and handful of people sued and were awarded $15M which is being appealed.
In Ohio another clinic suffered a similar meltdown and ambulance chasers are encouraging anyone to come forward to sue the clinic before the deadline passes.
In Alabama, the courts declared frozen embryos to be people and the clinics liable for murder in case of an accident. That triggered several to shut down or stop IVF altogether. You are splitting hairs if you think that ruling doesn't amount to banning or outlawing IVF. Those judges were Republicans.
Republicans are usually prolife until the child is born.
Let one melt and see what happens in 9 months, its no more a person than the "man in the moon".
Those were white Christian conservatives, usually racists protecting their "property" and denying their slaves the same Constitutional rights the slave owners enjoyed.
Today we call them Republicans and though slavery is outlawed they are still overly concerned about women's reproductive rights denying them the same medical freedoms the Republican men take for granted.
I guess that depends upon your age and religious belief and whether or not you are incarcerated by the state or federal government. Do you feel like you are property?
Lol. Notice how they never say that about the abolitionists?
conservatives
Slaveholders were just as likely to be "progressive" as "conservative"
You should read their attacks on capitalism.
Is it a deflection to point out that Democrats have consistently devalued human life for their convenience?
Nope, just an ignorant partisan sweeping generalization when you have no other argument or credibility.
It’s even worse - it’s a fabrication used as a deflection. Trumpian level trash.
So he lied.
Just end it there.
You seem very concentrated on everyone lying except the person who does it at the drop of hat.
Lol. I won't vote for him.
You are very interested in defending the lies of the people you vote for.
Isn't it amazing how many are willing to overlook that and harp about somebody else?
This seems like a distinction without much of a difference. More importantly, it seems like a deliberate attempt to deflect from the main point.
That being, for couples struggling with fertility issues, Republicans want to make life harder, and Walz knows how they feel, from personal experience.
In a fit of incomprehensible hypocrisy, Republicans want to claim this “lie” makes him a poor choice for VP. Sorry, but if you’re going to vote for Trump, you just don’t get to talk about honesty in a candidate.