Family Research Council, the Christian evangelical organization that lobbies against abortion, pornography, divorce, and LGBT rights, is led by Tony Perkins. In 2018, the former Louisiana state legislator — who sometimes makes exceptions to his rigid rules — defended then-President Donald Trump and said he should be given a “mulligan” for his past indiscretions. (Perkins had been asked about the alleged sexual encounter between adult film star Stormy Daniels and Trump while he was married to his third wife.)
The organization didn’t make any exceptions recently, however, when Trump announced his support for IVF treatment, which was under pressure after an Alabama Supreme Court decision essentially outlawed the procedure. Mary Szoch, Director of the Center for Human Dignity at Family Research Council, defended the organization’s opposition to IVF — especially objecting to the use of pornography in the process.
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As seen in the video above, Szoch said: “Pornography is an integral part of the IVF process. And the husband’s use of pornography is typically how sperms are obtained — that’s not good for a marriage. We know pornography goes against what God tells us about the dignity of men and women and the marriage act.”
IVF is a broadly popular procedure and extreme measures to ban it are seen as a political opening for Democrats who align with the majority opinion on the issue. A Democratic super PAC, Progress Action Fund, is targeting Republicans over the issues of IVF and abortion access ahead of the 2024 election. It released an ad this week in Arizona (where abortion rights made it to the 2024 ballot) titled, ‘Republicans Stealing Your Baby.’
As seen above, the 30-second ad features a Republican congressman (an actor) taking a newborn baby from a couple who used IVF treatment and calling the couple “criminals.” The congressman says “I won the last election, so it’s my decision. If you want a baby, you have to make one the old-fashion way and I’ll be watching.”