WASHINGTON – Rep. Michelle Steele, a two-term Republican congresswoman from a competitive Orange County district, announced her retirement on Thursday. his co–sponsorship On the Conception to Life Act, he said he was in favor of in vitro fertilization.
“I do not support federal restrictions on IVF,” Steele said on the House floor. “I am removing myself from the bill because it may cause confusion about my support for the blessing of having a child through IVF. With this, I remove my name as a sponsor.
The reversal comes two days after Steel won the primary to advance to this fall’s general election, earning enough Republican support to advance. Also Tuesday, NBC News informed Steel has voiced her support for IVF even while sponsoring a bill that could threaten the use of IVF for pregnancy, a process in which unused embryos are discarded. At the time, his office did not respond to inquiries about how he reconciled those positions.
NBC News has not predicted who his challenger will be, but veteran Derek Tran, a Democrat and consumer rights attorney, currently leads the other contenders for the second of the top two positions. On Thursday, he responded to Steel’s reversal by calling him a liar.
“Michelle Steele just admitted she lied to every single one of her constituents about the abortion ban, IVF restriction law,” Tran said in a written statement. “He can try to explain it all he wants, but Californians see him for exactly who he is — a reproductive rights extremist who has no business representing the interests of California’s 45th District. Therefore, we will defeat him this November.”
Steel’s appearance represents a broader dilemma for Republicans on IVF after an Alabama ruling against reproductive rights threatened the procedure and catapulted it into the national consciousness.
The congressman passed a non-binding resolution expressing support for the use of IVF to achieve pregnancy, but did not sign legislation providing legal protection for it.