MADISON (WKOW) -- As conversations on reproductive access continue at the national level, Democratic lawmakers are demanding Congress pass legislation through the Senate guaranteeing the right to procedures like in vitro fertilization, or IVF.
Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Senate Democrats introduced the Access to Family Building Act for families seeking reproductive care and physicians offering those services.
On Wednesday, Democratic state Senator Kelda Roys (D-Madison) was joined by a group of medical students claiming that Eric Hovde, Baldwin's first major Republican challenger for her U.S. Senate seat, has had a track record of opposing abortion rights.
Students at UW-Madison argued that health care providers should be able to provide health care without judgment. They said actions to restrict reproductive care have impacted their ability to receive the academic training needed for their profession.
Senator Roys spoke to Baldwin's efforts to restore reproductive freedoms in Wisconsin and nationally, shaming Hovde, who announced his bid for the Senate seat in February.
"I don't think Eric Hovde has changed his mind on this. People generally don't change their minds on something like this and he has already aligned himself with the most extreme opponents of abortion," Roys said. "It is nothing but political opportunism, that is making him change his words."
Republican candidates and lawmakers have voiced their support for IVF procedures in the days following the Alabama Supreme Court ruling declaring that embryos created through IVF are living children, but Democratic lawmakers have argued that their support is contradictory to their constant attacks on abortion access.
Ben Voelkel, a spokesperson for Eric Hovde's campaign, confirmed to 27 News that he did support access to fertility treatments, including IVF.
On abortion, Hovde said in a statement, "It is clear after the Dobbs decision that the people of Wisconsin are the ones who should decide this issue… I believe the voters of Wisconsin can come together and find a common sense and compassionate solution that respects life while also safeguarding individual rights."
