Sen. Rick Scott’s (R-FL) reelection campaign unveiled a seven-figure ad buy on Wednesday featuring a 30-second video emphasizing his support for in vitro fertilization (IVF) and rebuking Democratic critiques on the matter.
“For me, it’s personal. My youngest daughter has been undergoing IVF treatments to grow her family. I’m Rick Scott and this grandpa will always protect IVF. You can count on that,” he concludes.
Scott, who is running for reelection against Democrat former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell and recently announced his bid for GOP Senate leader, expressed on Thursday that he has been “very vocal” about his support for IVF, especially as his daughter undergoes the process.
“So I put up an ad because I’m not going to [let] the Democrats go out there and lie that I’m, I’m anti-contraception and IVF,” he stated.
IVF is a procedure where “mature eggs are collected from ovaries and fertilized by sperm in a lab, [and] then a procedure is done to place one or more of the fertilized eggs, called embryos, in a uterus, which is where babies develop,” according to the Mayo Clinic.
President Joe Biden, along with Democrats nationwide, has made abortion a central theme of their campaigns. IVF has also emerged as a contentious issue after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled several months ago that frozen embryos created through IVF are considered unborn children under state law and anyone who destroys them may be held liable. Democrats immediately responded after several IVF clinics in the state paused operations, although they have resumed after Alabama Republicans passed a quick fix bill to protect providers.
Republicans, many of whom assert that life begins at conception, have been advised since the ruling to unconditionally support IVF to avoid appearing “extreme” — despite the moral and ethical challenges associated with the process, including disposal, experimentation, long-term storage, eugenic-style embryo selection, and even selective abortions later on. Former President Donald Trump has endorsed IVF, arguing that Republicans should “make it easier for mothers and families to have babies — not harder.”
“[The contraception] bill was not about contraception,” Scott noted. “It was about grade school kids being given condoms. They would require all schools, religious and otherwise, to give condoms to kids as young as six.”
“[Democrats] always go overboard. They require everything under the sun — everybody to change their rules… And so that’s why I think [Republicans] have to be very clear: we support contraception, we support IVF. But that’s never what [Democrats’] bills do,” he added.
Scott stated the advertisement is part of his effort for Republicans to assert their policy positions instead of letting Democrats define them.
“And that’s one of the reasons why I’m running [for] leader. We have to quit doing the status quo, which is always to be on the defensive,” he said.
Scott added that Democrats are so focused on abortion and issues like IVF because “They can’t run on anything that people care about.”
“They can’t run on how they’re going to secure the border because they won’t. They can’t run on how they’re getting inflation down because they don’t care,” he said. “They are not going to run on how they’re going to stop antisemitism because they don’t care about that. So they just have to lie — I’m not going to let them lie about me.”
“Democrats want to paint us as anti-women. [But] Democrat policies are horrible for women,” he added. “They’ve caused unbelievable inflation. Democrat policies have caused a horrible job market. Democrat policies have caused education to be way too expensive.”
Besides IVF, Scott called for Republicans to have consistent messaging around their strongest issues going into November.
“We have to be clear — our policies of having a secure border will make your family safer. Our policy of having a secure border will increase the chance that your kid doesn’t die of a fentanyl overdose,” he said. “Our policy of closing the border will make sure that we don’t have as many gangs and criminals in this country. Your daughter is not going to have to play a man in women’s sports in high school. They’re not going to be able to come into your bathroom.”
