From the campaign of Collin Corbett:
Collin Corbett Calls Out Darren Bailey’s Anti-IVF Record Following Pregnancy Announcement
PALATINE, IL — After announcing yesterday that his wife is pregnant with their second child, conceived naturally after their first child was born via IVF, Independent candidate for Illinois Governor Collin Corbett is raising awareness about the importance of fertility treatments for Illinois families while taking aim at his Republican opponent, Darren Bailey, for his extreme record against IVF.
“Darren Bailey claims to be pro-life and pro-family, but his record tells a completely different story,” said Collin.
“When given a chance to support parents like me trying to start our families, he refused.
“But now that IVF has broad, bipartisan support, he’s suddenly silent.
“Illinois voters, especially parents who relied on IVF to hold their children in their arms, deserve to know why Darren Bailey tried to stop us from starting our families.”
For Collin and his wife, Abbey, this issue is deeply personal.
In their first year of marriage, Abbey was diagnosed with cancer.
While she beat the disease, it left her with almost no chance of conceiving naturally.
But after over six years of trying, three years of intensive IVF, and a devastating miscarriage, their little miracle baby was born: Theodore, which means “gift of God.”
“Now, they’re celebrating another miracle with another pregnancy, this time without the use of fertility treatments, a phenomenon that happens in around 20% of post-IVF pregnancies.
“Abbey and I know firsthand that science and faith don’t conflict.
“Our children are both medical miracles and gifts from God. Only extremists would oppose the 13 million babies who have been born through IVF worldwide, now nearly 3% of all births in the US,” said Collin.
Darren Bailey and his closest allies have a long history of opposing IVF.
While in the state legislature, Bailey was one of only six senators to vote against HB3709, a bipartisan bill that expanded access to IVF in Illinois.
He publicly urged his supporters to oppose the 2024 IVF referendum by sharing a post from Illinois Family Action, an organization that has endorsed Bailey and whose leader, David Smith, attacked President Trump for supporting IVF, publicly backed SB3572, an extreme bill that would treat IVF and abortion as murder, and said IVF “diminishes the value of human life.”
Collin has been a vocal advocate for IVF.
He spoke out forcefully on his podcast in 2024 when Illinois Congresswoman Mary Miller called IVF “morally dubious.”
He and his wife were featured in USA Today talking about how difficult it is for working families to afford IVF.
And he authored an op-ed in the Chicago Tribune promoting IVF support among Republicans and conservatives, pointing to polling that showed 85% of Americans support IVF, including 78% of people who identify as pro-life and 83% of evangelicals—numbers that illustrate how extreme Bailey’s anti-IVF record is.
