Arizona Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake called IVF—short for in vitro fertilization—”UVF” multiple times on Wednesday night.
“I want to make sure that UVF is protected,” Lake said during her sole debate against Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), the Democratic nominee.
“I have many friends who are here, they’re my friends today because of UVF,” Lake continued. “And I have many of my friends who have had children and experienced the joy of motherhood and parenthood because of UVF.”
Lake and Gallego are vying to replace Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.).
Sinema, during her one term in the Senate, drew a flurry of headlines for forcing concessions on President Joe Biden’s sweeping economic bill and soon after publicly broke from the Democratic party to be independent. She announced in March she would not seek reelection.
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report currently rates the open seat as “lean” Democrat. Recent polling shows Lake consistently trailing Gallego by an average of eight points.
Lake’s “UVF” gaffe comes amid a growing rift within the Republican Party, between Republicans who apply anti-abortion messaging for the common fertility treatment and those who do not.
President Donald Trump in August pledged to protect access to IVF and said that if elected, his administration would require insurance companies to cover the treatment, which out-of-pocket can cost between $15,000 to $30,000 for a singular cycle.
“We are going to be, under the Trump administration, we are going to be paying for that treatment,” Trump told NBC News, adding, “We’re going to be mandating that the insurance company pay.”
Trump’s comments in support of IVF set off a firestorm of criticism from anti-abortion activists who oppose the freezing or discarding of embryos, which is common practice for the treatment.
An Alabama court decision in February declaring frozen embryos have the same rights as children caused fertility clinics to pause IVF treatments amid concerns they could be sued by patients. The ruling was met with immense backlash and prompted the state legislature to grant legal immunity to IVF clinics.
It was that initial ruling that spurred much of the concern over IVF protections—and is what Trump credits for making him aware of the issue.
As a longtime ally of Trump, Lake’s policy positions generally align with that of the former president.
But her misstating of IVF is raising eyebrows online, with some accusing her of repeating talking points without understanding them.
“She’s being paid to repeat nonsense she doesn’t understand or she is actually that dumb,” wrote one person. “Some combo is also possible.”
“She doesn’t even know what she is talking about,” criticized another person.
“Looks like she cares about this issues and thinks about it often,” sarcastically swiped someone else.
“You laugh, but UVF (Ultimate Viking Frisbee) is a time-honored Arizona tradition,” joked another person.
IVF access remains broadly popular. A Pew Research survey earlier this year found that seven in ten adults believe access to the treatment is a “good thing,” with just 8% stating it’s bad.
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