Mariannette Miller-Meeks continues to mislead Iowans on her record, claiming that, “no one, myself included, has sponsored, signed onto or advanced a bill in Congress limiting or prohibiting IVF. Yet, we have put forth resolutions for our support for IVF.”
This couldn’t be further from the truth. At both the state and federal level, Miller-Meeks has supported legislation that could threaten IVF access.
And rather than sign on to a bipartisan bill that would *actually* guarantee protections for fertility treatments, Miller-Meeks signed on to a “useless” resolution that actually does nothing to protect fertility treatments.
This isn’t the first time Miller-Meeks has backed bogus legislation just to use as a talking point. She was caught touting an “essentially meaningless” contraception bill to distract from her anti-abortion record.
DCCC Spokesperson Mallory Payne:
“Mariannette Miller-Meeks will go to any length to cover up her extreme and dangerous anti-choice record, even mislead Iowans and sign onto bogus legislation. Voters won’t be fooled by her disingenuous talking points.”
Debates over abortion and in vitro fertilization are expected to help shape elections in swing districts across the country this year, but experts say it’s an issue that could also have resonance in a red state like Iowa.
Republican leaders in the Hawkeye State have taken steps to dramatically curtail access to abortion, raising concerns among some voters and advocates that fertility treatments eventually could get caught in the crosshairs.
U.S. Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks in the 1st District and Zach Nunn in the 3rd District, who are trying to defend their seats, have sought to emphasize their support for IVF while also maintaining that life begins at conception — a concept that was at the heart of a recent Alabama court case that triggered the temporary shuttering of treatment centers.
“IVF fertility treatment gives so many Iowans the chance to have children and is an essential part of the decision of whether, when, and how people are able to start a family,” Bohannan wrote in a recent candidate survey for the Des Moines Register. “I myself have tried IVF, as have thousands of Iowa women desperately praying for a family.”
Bohannan also has criticized Miller-Meeks, saying the congresswoman “co-sponsored a measure that would end IVF fertility treatments nationwide, a horrific outcome.”
Miller-Meeks co-sponsored the bill, which states that life begins at fertilization. And although the bill includes language preventing “the prosecution of any woman for the death of her unborn child” as a result of the law, it does not spell out protections for fertility treatments, which a Senate version of the bill does.
Miller-Meeks co-sponsored a nonbinding resolution that “strongly supports the access to and use of IVF treatments across the United States” — but it did not offer any legal protections for patients or providers.
