Hogan cleans up IVF remarks, says he would sponsor legislation to protect access

Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R), who is running for Senate, said Friday that he would sponsor legislation to protect access to in vitro fertilization (IVF), a day after he dodged questions on it. 

“Access to IVF is vital to millions of families and must be protected. I will sponsor legislation in the Senate to do just that,” Hogan wrote in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

The former governor was asked during an Axios event the day prior whether he would vote to protect IVF. Hogan said he supported IVF but didn’t want to speculate about potential legislation. 

But there is legislation in both the House and Senate that would do just that. 

A bill from Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) that establishes federal protections for IVF and other assisted reproductive technology has 46 other co-sponsors.

Duckworth recently tried to fast-track passage of the bill by unanimous consent, but was blocked when Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) objected. Unanimous consent means any one senator could object and scuttle the effort.

A companion House bill from Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.) has 135 co-sponsors, all of them Democrats.

IVF has been catapulted into the national spotlight after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are children, and those who destroy them can be held liable under a state wrongful death law. 

Like many Republicans across the country, Hogan has said he supports IVF and has tried to distance himself from the ruling and its fallout. Most Republicans in Congress argue IVF protections should happen at the state level.

Hogan said Thursday that IVF “is a wonderful thing and should never be limited.”  

But Democrats have blamed the entire Republican Party for the Alabama ruling and are eager to use it as a campaign issue.