In MO Gov. Debate, Ashcroft and Eigel Promise Further Attacks on Reproductive Rights, IVF

In MO Gov. Debate, Ashcroft and Eigel Promise Further Attacks on Reproductive Rights, IVF

In last week’s first and only Republican debate for governor, the only two candidates who showed up – Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and state Senator Bill Eigel – laid out their plans to continue undermining and attacking Missourians’ access to reproductive freedom and IVF, as the Kansas City Star reported.

When asked by the moderators if frozen embryos “deserve the same legal protections as a fetus developing in the womb,” referencing the Missouri Supreme Court’s ruling that current state law does not explicitly protect in vitro fertilization and that life begins at conception, both candidates answered “yes.”

WATCH HERE:  

All three leading GOP candidates, including Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe, have lengthy records of attacking reproductive freedom, including their support the state’s current extreme abortion ban that does not allow for exceptions for rape or incest. All three candidates have also stated their belief that life begins at conception, at odds with the use of IVF, and the Missouri Republican Party’s 2024 platform states that “life begins at conception,” making no carve-out for IVF treatment.

Meanwhile, Missourians across the state have come together, gathering more than 380,000 signatures from every county and Congressional district in the state – more than double needed – to put abortion on the general election ballot this November.

“Last week’s debate confirmed this field of GOP candidates are all too extreme to be Missouri’s next governor, and that, if given the chance, will go further to restrict reproductive freedom,” said DGA States Press Secretary Emma O’Brien. “Under Bill Eigel, Mike Kehoe, or Jay Ashcroft, Missourians’ right to even start a family will be at risk. These kinds of extreme policies are not what Missouri voters want in their next governor.”

###