1. United States
2. Texas
3. Letter

Greetings. I am a voting constituent in rural west Texas. Today we celebrate the end of summer. And the Republican Party finally realizing some of the finer parts of socialism as they see it. I’m talking about the apparent about-face of having the government pay for citizens to have children through IVF. I hear Senator Cotton was just expounding on the subject this a.m. "It’s something I’m open to, that most Republicans would be open to," Cotton said during an interview with Kristen Weller on NBC News' "Meet the Press," adding that he'd first need to "evaluate the fiscal impact" and consider "whether the taxpayer can afford to pay for this, what impact it would have on premiums." Ms. Welker pressed Cotton about his support for Trump's plan, pointing to the fact that earlier this year he voted against the Right to IVF Act, which would have mandated IVF coverage in federal health care plans, the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid plans. Hmmmm, interesting. I do appreciate the Senator’s concern for our pocketbooks. Even if it does seem a bit disingenuous. But his vote against what he now seems to be for seems a bit suspect. I wonder why the change? “His remarks come a few days after Trump told NBC News that if elected, his administration would "be mandating that the insurance company pay" for fertility services like IVF. Pressed to clarify his plan in that interview, Trump said that one option would be for insurance companies to be forced to pay for fertility services “under a mandate, yes.”” Oh. Right. Clean up on aisle one. I’ll cut to the chase regarding my own pocketbook. IVF is complicated and very expensive. And I appreciate that many would benefit from governmental largesse on this front. However, it is totally counterproductive punishment to take away one woman’s right to choose whether she is willing, ready, and able to manage a pregnancy and replace it with funding to encourage another woman to proceed with a pregnancy that may end up being fraught with medical issues that she also may have no recourse to remedy. Because of GOP actions. This is a cynical bet by the GOP that is transparent in its cravenness. Talk about trying to buy votes. You can’t give one group of women reproductive choices supported by and paid for by their government while depriving another group of their different choices because they do not agree with GOP ideology. No matter how it’s spun, pandered to, denied, softened, and lied about, all women deserve choices, and support for those choices. And your current desperate turn towards a ‘socialist’ pregnancy-for-all stance is laughable. Except women are not laughing.