WASHINGTON – It was just last week that Texas Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton was a big advocate of in vitro fertilization, or IVF.

“Every child is a blessing, and every family hoping to welcome a child deserves support and compassion,” Paxton, who is currently the state’s attorney general, told HuffPost. “I am a strong supporter of IVF and pro-family policies that help Americans experience the wonders of parenthood.”

His stance was somewhat surprising, considering the Texas GOP just added an IVF ban to its newly approved party platform. But suddenly, Paxton is walking back that support, saying he’d put “restrictions” on the fertility treatment that Americans used nearly 450,000 times in 2024, and that produced more than 100,000 babies nationwide.

“We need to have restrictions, so that we don’t lose fertilized eggs, if that’s possible, and we need to just examine the issue,” Paxton told the Washington Examiner on Saturday.

The attorney general’s curious change of heart puts him in line with his party, erasing a potential conflict that could have hurt his chances at victory in November in his race against Democratic state Rep. James Talarico.

Going further still, Paxton also told the news outlet he “would not commit” to supporting a bill for national protections for IVF — the complete opposite of what he told the Texas Tribune earlier this month, when he said he’d back pro-IVF legislation currently sponsored by Sens. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) if elected.

“It’s easy to say I’d support a vote, but I would need to read the bill, find out exactly what it does, find out what protections are in there,” he said. “I want couples to be able to have babies, but I also want protection, so I can’t say blanketly I’d support any bill.”

Paxton, a scandal-plagued ally of President Donald Trump, is running against Talarico for the seat held by Republican Sen. John Cornyn. Trump supported Paxton in his bid to unseat Cornyn, despite Senate Republican leaders begging the president to stand by the longtime incumbent senator with less baggage.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report tilted its rating for this Senate seat slightly more in Democrats’ favor after Paxton ousted Cornyn, from “likely Republican” to “lean Republican.”

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