The Alabama Supreme Court’s controversial ruling earlier this year determining frozen embryos have the same rights as children — and the ensuing backlash the decision caused — thrust reproductive freedom into the national spotlight.

During the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Wednesday, in his first major speech introducing himself to the country, Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz shared his family’s experience with fertility treatments that led to the birth of his two children.

“This is a big part of what this election is about: freedom,” said Walz, the governor of Minnesota, contrasting how both parties view the concept.

“When Republicans use the word ‘freedom,’ they mean the government should be free to invade your doctor’s office … and banks free to take advantage of customers,” he said. “But when we Democrats talk about freedom, we mean freedom to make a better life for yourself and the people you love…”

Talking about his record as Minnesota governor, Walz said the state under his leadership “protected reproductive freedom, because in Minnesota we respect our neighbors and the personal choices they make.

“We got a golden rule: mind your own damn business,” he said to applause. “And that includes IVF and fertility treatment.”

Walz’ wife, Gwen, underwent fertility treatments that led to the births of the couple’s two children.

“When our daughter was born [in 2001], we named her Hope,” Walz said, as the camera panned to his daughter, who smiled and made the heart gesture with her hands.

Five years later, Gwen Walz gave birth to a son.

“Hope and Gus, you are our entire world and we love you,” Tim Walz said.

It’s not the first time the governor shared his personal story with fertility treatments in wake of the Alabama ruling.

“Gwen and I have two beautiful children because of reproductive health care like IVF. This issue is deeply personal to our family and so many others,” Walz posted on Facebook in February, shortly after the ruling.

“Don’t let these guys get away with this by telling you they support IVF when their handpicked judges oppose it.

“Actions speak louder than words, and their actions are clear. They’re bringing anti-science government into your exam room, bedroom, and classroom.”

The Alabama Supreme Court ruled that under state law embryos are human beings from the moment of fertilization, whether in the womb or generated in the laboratory via IVF.

Couples had sued an IVF clinic and a Mobile hospital after their embryos were destroyed.

Mobile County Circuit Court Judge Jill Parrish Phillips threw out the case in 2022, claiming that embryos are not children, but her decision was overruled by the state supreme court in February.

Walz told the Minneapolis Star Tribune extra clarity was needed in Minnesota’s laws after the Alabama ruling.

“For folks who said there’s redundancy in them, OK, but I want to build redundancy in them,” Walz said. “I’m going to build up the battlements around protection as much as I can.”

Walz told the newspaper he and Gwen had tried to start a family by going through fertility treatments at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester for seven years. Repeated treatments hadn’t worked, Walz said.

Then one day, he said, Gwen called him crying, the Star Tribune reported in March.

“I said, ‘not again,’” Walz asked his wife when he picked up the phone. “She said, ‘No, I’m pregnant.’ It’s not by chance that we named our daughter Hope.”

In July, the Harris campaign wished “a happy IVF Day to everyone except” for Trump’s now-running mate, Sen. JD Vance. In response, Gov. Walz shared their story.

“Even if you’ve never gone through the hell of infertility, someone you know has. When Gwen and I were having trouble getting pregnant, the anxiety and frustration blotted out the sun. JD Vance opposing the miracle of IVF is a direct attack on my family and so many others,” Walz tweeted.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Vance attacked Walz, claiming the governor “lied about having a family via IVF.”

In introducing himself to voters as Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris ‘ running mate, Walz has made his family’s struggle with fertility a central part of his narrative, a tangible way to connect with voters alarmed at the erosion of reproductive rights in the U.S. But Gwen Walz on Tuesday issued a statement that detailed the experience more comprehensively and disclosed that they relied on a different process known as intrauterine insemination, or IUI.

IUI is often attempted before IVF but doesn’t face the same level of political controversy because it doesn’t risk destroying unused embryos that anti-abortion advocates say equate to unborn children.

A Harris campaign spokeswoman told the Associated Press that Walz wasn’t being misleading, and chalked the discrepancy to Walz’ folksy style of speaking.

“Gov. Walz talks how normal people talk,” said Mia Ehrenberg,. “He was using commonly understood shorthand for fertility treatments.”