Democrats hope IVF issue might topple key Republican in Pa. swing seat

Source: Washington Post

March 10, 2024 at 11:00 a.m. EDT


CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rep. Scott Perry, a conservative Republican representing a moderate suburban district in the Harrisburg area, insists he supports in vitro fertilization though he sponsored a bill last year that would make it federal law that life begins at conception.

But some voters in his district, like new mom Ashley Moyer, don’t believe him. “I don’t really know how you can support IVF and believe that life begins at conception,” Moyer said. “The two things are very contradictory.” Moyer, 32, who conceived her 9-month-old baby boy through IVF, voted for Donald Trump in 2016. But she said she’s been energized by conservative attacks on reproductive rights in the last several years. Now, she said she doubts she would ever vote for a Republican again — especially not Perry.

As Democrats pursue opportunities to flip the three seats they would need to win back the House majority in November, they hope anger over a ruling Feb. 16 by the Alabama Supreme Court that frozen embryos are people will give them new momentum in swing districts. They believe the IVF debate could particularly help them target Republicans in vulnerable districts like Perry, who have backed policies that could threaten the popular fertility treatment.

Democrats plan to campaign aggressively on the issue, hoping to capitalize on the electoral successes they had after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. The House Majority PAC, a super PAC dedicated to electing Democrats to the House, has identified nine incumbent Republicans, including Perry, in competitive districts who co-sponsored the Life at Conception Act, which says the right to life begins at “the moment of fertilization.”

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/03/10/democrats-hope-ivf-issue-might-topple-key-republican-pa-swing-seat/