Donald Trump Jr. blasts congressional candidate Andre Jacque over IVF stance

WASHINGTON – Former President Donald Trump’s eldest son this week attacked a Wisconsin Republican House candidate for opposing in-vitro fertilization — injecting an issue that has divided Republicans into the primary race for a northeastern Wisconsin congressional district.

During a campaign rally for Trump-endorsed businessman Tony Wied in De Pere Tuesday, Donald Trump Jr. accused state Sen. Andre Jacque of being against the fertilization treatment. He suggested running against a Republican who opposed IVF would be a “dream” for Democrats.

“Andre Jacque says, ‘we don’t want to have IVF treatments for families,’” Donald Trump Jr. told a local TV station. “We’re pro-family. We want people to be able to have families. You can’t have a Republican running — that’s a Democrat dream.”

His comments come months after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos can be considered children, a move that could limit access to IVF. Many Republicans, including the former president, distanced themselves from the decision and voiced support for the treatment as Democrats sought to tie the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 overturning of the landmark abortion rights case Roe v. Wade, for which Trump has taken credit.

The remarks also marked an interesting dynamic: a Republican attacking a fellow Republican over reproductive access. Democrats in Wisconsin have successfully campaigned on reproductive rights and abortion access, while Republicans have struggled to unify on the issue.

Jacque’s campaign on Wednesday did not answer a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel question about whether Jacque supports IVF. But Jacque’s campaign manager said the De Pere Republican “has never introduced legislation that would affect IVF” and repeatedly labeled Wied a “paper tiger” — a term referring to something that appears threatening but is not.

“It’s unfortunate that Tony 'the paper tiger' Wied’s campaign has started to lie about André’s record,” said Will Terry, Jacque’s campaign manager, noting Wied did not vote in the 2020 presidential primary in which Trump did not face a challenger. “While Andre has been in the fight for the MAGA movement Tony ‘the paper tiger’ has been nowhere to be found.”

Donald Trump Jr. was referring to Jacque’s past support for adding a so-called personhood amendment to the state constitution, a source close to the Trump family told the Journal Sentinel this week. The amendment held that the right to life applies to all humans at any stage of development, including before they are born.

Proponents of IVF have argued the measures could hinder the procedure. Such legislation, they’ve argued, could complicate various aspects of the treatment, including the removal of ineffective embryos and what to do with those that go unused.

A number of clinics in Alabama paused IVF treatments after the state Supreme Court ruling, though some of those clinics resumed service after the state passed a law protecting doctors involved in the treatments.

Still, Jacque’s campaign on Wednesday said Jacque’s proposed amendment was “expressly introduced for the purpose of protecting Wisconsin’s existing pro-life laws” and “would not have made any changes to IVF or any other Wisconsin statutes.”

Jacque, for his part, has sought to cast himself as the most conservative Republican in the three-way primary for the 8th Congressional District, which includes former state Sen. Roger Roth.

Jacque has repeatedly pointed to his opposition to abortion at any stage as evidence of his conservatism, and he was endorsed last week by Pro-Life Wisconsin, a group that opposes IVF.

Wied, a political newcomer endorsed by Trump before he formally announced his campaign, said Wednesday that he was “pro-family.”

“That means protecting access to IVF,” Wied said. “In order to have a strong America, we need strong families.”

Roth similarly said he supported the procedure. “As a proud supporter of life, I support all pathways for Wisconsinites to start and grow their family,” Roth said in a statement.

IVF is responsible for about 100,000 babies born every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — around 2% of births. The Department of Health and Human Services estimated in 2020 that there are at least 600,000 frozen embryos in storage nationwide.

De Pere OB-GYN Kristin Lyerly, the only Democrat running in the 8th District, accused the Republicans in the race of using IVF as “a political football to be tossed around when it suits their radical agenda.”

“For my patients, on the other hand, it’s an essential pathway for growing a family,” Lyerly said. “This is yet another example of political interference in our most personal healthcare decisions that neither I nor the people of northeast Wisconsin will stand for.”

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Trump Jr. blasts congressional candidate Andre Jacque over IVF stance