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Ken Paxton Says He's 'A Strong Supporter Of IVF' — Even As Texas GOP Dreams Of Banning It

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Texas Attorney General and Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton told HuffPost he supports in vitro fertilization, despite the GOP in his state adding an IVF ban to its newly approved party platform.

"Strong families are the foundation of a strong nation," Paxton told HuffPost in an emailed statement. "Every child is a blessing, and every family hoping to welcome a child deserves support and compassion. I am a strong supporter of IVF and pro-family policies that help Americans experience the wonders of parenthood."

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Paxton had not previously publicly discussed his stance on IVF. His support for IVF is notable given that his party added an IVF and surrogacy ban to its platform during the Texas state GOP convention earlier this month — setting up a conflict in the party that could impact his chances of winning his U.S. Senate race against Democratic nominee James Talarico come November.

During IVF, eggs are removed from a woman's body and then fertilized; a fertilized embryo is then transferred to a woman's uterus. Some embryos are typically discarded or destroyed along the way for a variety of reasons, including chromosomal abnormalities or because a person has decided to stop growing their family.

IVF has become a polarizing topic in conservative anti-abortion circles because of different views over when life begins. Some anti-abortion Republicans believe embryos should be considered children, and that the process should be banned because it involves creating embryos that aren't necessarily transferred to a uterus. Others, including President Donald Trump, say they view IVF and other fertility treatments as important tools to help people start families and combat a declining birth rate.

The new Texas GOP agenda, passed earlier this month, calls to "protect fetal life from destructive practices, such as IVF and commercial surrogacy" — a goal that is largely out of step with the majority of Americans who support access to IVF, and the nearly 70% of Texans who oppose a ban on the fertility treatment.

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Delegates also called for stronger criminal penalties for abortion, even though the state already has one of the most extreme abortion bans in the country, including for those sending abortion pills by mail.

The nearly 60-page document was voted on by more than 4,000 state Republican delegates, but it is not enforceable by law. The platform — adopted every two years — signals the goals of the party heading into the 2026 midterm elections and for the following year.

The convention platform often skews more conservative than the everyday Republican voter in Texas, the Austin American-Statesmen notes. The party considered endorsing the death penalty for abortion providers and patients in its 2024 platform, which also included a push to pass fetal personhood laws and criminalize IVF. It's seen as a kind of Republican wish list for the near future, and some of the policy priorities are eventually incorporated into laws.

Paxton is known for his extreme anti-abortion views, suing a doctor who prescribed the abortion pill mifepristone and very publicly criminalizing a Texas midwife for allegedly providing abortion care in the state. As the state attorney general, he has also warned physicians that they face steep criminal penalties if they perform abortions that do not meet the state's legal threshold of saving a pregnant person's life — vague criteria that has led to the deaths of multiple Texas women who were denied lifesaving miscarriage care.