Sen. Rick Scott’s (R-FL) reelection campaign released a seven-figure ad buy on Wednesday featuring a 30-second video in which he casts his support for in vitro fertilization (IVF) and slams Democrat attacks on the issue.
“Politics today is just full of it. The attack ads say the same crazy stuff about every Republican. They hate women, birth control — even IVF. It’s ridiculous. Let’s get real. IVF in vitro fertilization has brought beautiful babies to so many families,” Scott says in the advertisement, which will run on television and digital platforms in Florida beginning next week.
“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.
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Scott, who is running for reelection against Democrat former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell and recently announced his bid for GOP Senate leader, said during an interview with Breitbart News on Thursday that he has been “very vocal” about his support for IVF, especially as his daughter goes through 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 said.
IVF is a process in which “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, as well as Democrats around the country, have made abortion the centerpiece of their campaigns. IVF has become another flashpoint since the Alabama Supreme Court ruled several months ago that frozen embryos created IVF are considered unborn children under state law, and that anyone who destroys them may be held liable. Democrats immediately seized on the decision after several IVF clinics in the state paused operations, although they have since resumed after Alabama Republicans passed a quick fix bill to shield providers.
Republicans, many of whom claim to believe life begins at conception, have been told since the ruling to uncritically support IVF so as not to look “extreme” — despite the moral and ethical quandaries surrounding the process, including disposal, experimentation, long-term storage, eugenic-style embryo selection, and even selective abortions later on. Former President Donald Trump has spoken in support of IVF, arguing that Republicans should “make it easier for mothers and families to have babies — not harder.”
Senate Democrats are currently working to push votes on several reproductive bills, including ones that would create broad federal rights to IVF and contraception, in an effort to paint Republicans as anti-woman ahead of November elections. Republicans, including Scott, have warned against both bills, noting that they are too extreme and violate parental rights and religious protections.
RELATED: Senate Republican Blocks Democrats’ IVF Trojan Horse Bill
“[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 said the advertisement is part of his push for Republicans to take charge and define their own policy positions, rather than allowing Democrats to do so for them.
“We have to be very aggressive about what we stand for — not just say how bad [Democrats] are,” he said, adding that current Senate leadership “doesn’t get out ahead of issues” or establish a consistent party message.
“And that’s one of the reasons why I’m running [f0r] 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 fixated 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.”
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.