 Health Care |
Health Care |
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Walz family infertility journey was not IVF |
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) often talks about he and his wife Gwen Walz undergoing years of fertility treatments before becoming parents, shining a personal spotlight on the issue while warning of GOP efforts to restrict in-vitro fertilization. |
"Even if we wouldn't make the same choice for ourselves, there's a golden rule: Mind your own damn business," Walz, the Democratic vice presidential candidate, said of reproductive care during his first rally with running mate Vice President Harris earlier this month. "Look, that includes IVF. And this gets personal for me and my family," he added.
The broad assumption was that Walz's family went through IVF treatments to conceive their two children, and many major media outlets reported it as fact. The Harris-Walz campaign clarified to The Hill on Tuesday that the couple did not use IVF, and instead relied on another common procedure called intrauterine insemination (IUI). "Our fertility journey was an incredibly personal and difficult experience," Gwen Walz said in a statement provided by the campaign. "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."
Walz has said he and his wife used fertility treatments "like IVF" to have children. In a video posted on social media earlier this month by the Harris campaign, Walz implied his children were born through IVF in an attack on Republican vice-presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio). "If it was up to him [Vance], I wouldn't have a family because of IVF," Walz said. "My kids were born ... that way."
IUI is different from IVF because it doesn't involve creating or discarding embryos. Disposal of unused frozen embryos is a standard aspect of modern IVF services, which has put the treatment in the crosshairs of the anti-abortion movement.
It's often the step couples take prior to IVF — it is less expensive, less invasive but less successful.
"Infertility is a deeply personal journey, but the Governor and Mrs. Walz came forward to share their story because they know that MAGA attacks on reproductive rights are putting all fertility treatments at risk," Harris campaign spokeswoman Mia Ehrenberg said.
Ehrenberg said that in his previous comments alluding to IVF, Walz was talking "how normal people talk. He was using commonly understood shorthand for fertility treatments." |
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How policy will be impacting the health care sector this week and beyond: |
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Births in the United States dropped again between 2022 and 2023, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The national birth rate has been steadily declining for the last 17 years, with a particularly steep drop in births between 2007 and 2009 during the Great Recession. Between 2007 and 2022, the U.S. birth rate fell by nearly 23 percent, according to CDC data. There … |
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Former President Trump says he has "no regrets" that his handpicked Supreme Court justices overturned Roe v. Wade and ended the constitutional right to an abortion. "The federal government should have nothing to do with this issue. It's being solved at the state level, and people are very happy about it," Trump said in an interview with CBS News. "No regrets, no. I wouldn't have regrets. I did something most people … |
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CHICAGO (NewsNation) — Planned Parenthood is gearing up to give out more than party favors during the Democratic National Convention this week. The Planned Parenthood Great Rivers shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, that its mobile health clinic will be parked in the city’s West Loop — mere minutes from the DNC’s venue, the United Center — to provide “FREE vasectomies & medication abortion” on … |
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Middlemen make money, not medicines. |
Over half of every dollar spent on medicines goes to middlemen, like PBMs and insurers, along with others. They control what medicines you can get and what you pay at the pharmacy. Middlemen are driving medicine costs, and you don't know the half of it. |
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Branch out with a different read from The Hill: |
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India's top court creates task force on workplace safety after doctor was raped and killed |
NEW DELHI (AP) — India's top court on Tuesday set up a national task force of doctors who will make recommendations on safety of health care workers at their workplace, days after the rape and killing of a trainee doctor that sparked outrage and nationwide protests. The Supreme Court said the doctors' panel will frame guidelines for ensuring … |
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Local and state headlines on health care: |
- 50,000 New Jersey residents will see $100m in medical debt cut (Bergen Record)
- WV's kindergarten vaccination rates have dropped again recently. Doctors aren't worried (West Virginia Watch)
- State's Steward exit plan is no sure thing, as creditors push back (Boston Globe)
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Health news we've flagged from other outlets: |
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Most read stories on The Hill right now: |
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Senate Republicans are worried former President Trump could be blowing their chances of winning back the majority as he flails in his response to Vice … Read more |
| Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s running mate gave new insight into the precarious position their long-shot bid for the White House faces just three months … Read more |
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Opinions related to health submitted to The Hill: |
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You're all caught up. See you tomorrow! |
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