Why JD Vance and Republicans Are Focused on Birthrates and Reproduction

JD Vance has long spoken about his concerns about the falling birthrate — and it’s not just him.

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Senator JD Vance of Ohio during a campaign stop at a diner in Waite Park, Minn., on Sunday.

JD Vance’s three-year-old complaint that the country was being run by “childless cat ladies” like Vice President Kamala Harris has prompted bipartisan outrage and made the Ohio senator’s campaign to be vice president look wobbly before it has barely begun.

But, if you listen carefully, you’ll see that it is part of a discussion that Vance and some other Republicans appear eager to have.

Vance, 39, has long spoken publicly about his concerns about the falling American birthrate — and it’s not just him. During the Republican National Convention two weeks ago, talk about the importance of having babies was so prominent, I wondered if “Make America Procreate Again” was becoming a party tagline.

There is much to unpack here. Vance’s old comments — and his defense of them — have pushed the thorny and deeply personal politics of reproduction center stage in an election that Democrats were already eager to turn into a referendum on women’s personal freedoms on issues like abortion and birth control. They also coincide with outlandish conspiracy theories about Democrats trying to replace natural-born Americans with immigrants.

So, tonight, let’s take a look at a theme I think could shape this election even after the furor over Vance’s comments dies down.

A matter of birthrate

On Friday, Vance defended his comments in an interview with the SiriusXM host Megyn Kelly, saying his comments about Harris were “sarcasm,” but that his larger concern was that Democrats were “anti-family” and “anti-child.” He also chastised the country’s low birthrate.

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