IVF is allegedly the key to Trump’s election campaign. JD Vance didn’t even show up to vote on it

During his debate with Kamala Harris last week, former President Donald Trump said, “I was a pioneer in fertilization” — meaning in vitro fertilization, also known as IVF. The former president promised before the debate that either the federal government or insurance would cover the cost of IVF if he won a second term in the White House.

This all seemed a little convenient considering that it was Trump who put IVF in jeopardy. His confirmation of ultra-conservative judges to the Supreme Court led to the repeal of the Roe v. Wade with the Dobbs decision, which in turn led to an Alabama court declaring embryos to be human. Of course, if embryos are human, IVF is untenable.

All of this created a major political headache for Trump, leading to his knee-jerk proposal to make Obamacare-style IVF available to all. Needless to say, Republicans themselves—many of them evangelicals who don’t believe in IVF—were not too happy to hear about it.

This rift among members of the Republican Party has become particularly problematic recently, so this week Democrats decided to call the Republicans’ bluff by putting a bill to a vote to cover the cost of IVF.

“Just a few weeks ago, Donald Trump said he thought we should have IVF for everyone,” said Senator Tina Smith The Independent“He’s all talk and no action, and the Republicans in the Senate follow his example but they never show up.”

Not surprisingly, most Republicans rejected the motion. What is more surprising, however, is who did not vote at all: Trump’s running mate and man on Capitol Hill, Senator JD Vance of Ohio.

“It seems like an important vote,” said Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who had to split her time between the campaign and the Senate while running for president and is seeking re-election this year. The Independent.

The Republican candidate for vice president is apparently too busy spreading misinformation about Haitian migrants in his home state while simultaneously calling on Democrats to tone down their political rhetoric.

This is not the first time Vance has skipped a vote on legislation he claims to care about. He previously said he supported expanding the child tax credit – but when he got the chance to vote on a bipartisan proposal that passed the House and would have included a child tax credit, he skipped the vote.

The move infuriated Ron Wyden, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. He is usually polite to everyone, but said in August: “The bottom line is that the guy is a fraud.” That is the closest thing to a senator’s challenge.

Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado, one of the architects of the expanded child tax credit, found even harsher words.

“It’s kind of shocking, but I never heard a word about it before he got involved in the campaign,” said Bennet, who is also quite mild-mannered, The Independent.

As The Independent As reported several months ago, some Democratic senators tried to work with Vance during his short tenure in the Senate, but were often disappointed, with many accusing him of playing partisan politics and undermining his colleagues to score campaign points.

“He has a job to do and I don’t think he’s doing it,” Smith said The Independent.

Of course, Vance may have good reasons for avoiding difficult votes. One is that it would put the Republicans’ supposed number two in the awkward position of siding with the Democrats. The other is that many anti-abortion activists in his party oppose artificial insemination and view the creation of frozen embryos as incompatible with their ideals as abortion.

However, Vance’s absence could actually make the Democrats’ task easier in one area.

Given the Republican majority in the House, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has prioritized confirming President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees. But a full Senate means it’s harder to invoke a cloture session that would end debate over judicial nominees and allow their confirmation. That requires the presence of three-fifths of senators. So far, the absence of Vance and other senators has made it easier for Democrats to confirm judges.

Republicans, for their part, do not seem to be bothered by Vance’s absence, even though it gives Democrats the opportunity to withdraw.

“He is running for vice president,” said Senator John Cornyn of Texas, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, The Independent.

Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana echoed that sentiment. “He’s a vice presidential candidate,” he said when asked about Vance’s absences. “I don’t know if you knew that, but he is, and that requires him to be on the campaign trail.”

The Democrats, for their part, are pleased to be able to continue their wave of confirmations.

“We have a narrow majority in the Senate,” Smith said The Independent“I’m really glad we’re getting as many confirmed judges as possible.”