This weekend, anti-abortion group Live Action will host their second annual Live Action Women’s Summit. Set in Irvine, California, the summit claims to feature “inspiring speakers, meaningful conversations, and powerful moments celebrating womanhood,” along with on-site shopping, live music, and chances to learn about “what it means to live as a woman holistically.” Their site features photo montages of smiling, floral-clad women and a live-laugh-love vibe.

But the hyper-feminine façade hides the troubling promotion of anti-abortion propaganda rooted in misinformation, shame, and sketchy science, targeted specifically at women who have concerns about their fertility.

We’re talking, of course, about so-called “restorative reproductive medicine,” which bills itself as an “alternative” to IVF, despite little evidence for its proponents’ claims. This is deeply concerning coming from an organization that has outright called to “ban IVF now.”

Live Action frequent flier Dr. Lauren Rubal has made “restorative reproductive medicine” a key part of her Live Action-backed programming. It’s no surprise to us that Rubal, a former IVF provider, frequently promotes “restorative reproductive medicine,” since she appears to have “a personal as well as a political interest in dissuading the public from IVF” and promoting “restorative reproductive medicine,” as we’ve noted in the past. Rubal was previously listed as a medical provider for FEMM, whose fertility-tracking app has ties to anti-abortion funders. She also owns her own practice, where she provides “restorative reproductive medicine” and other “holistic” treatments.

The Live Action Women’s Summit is not the first time Rubal and Live Action have promoted “restorative reproductive medicine” and condemned IVF. Rubal and Live Action President Lila Rose promoted the unproven fertility theory — which is part of a broader anti-abortion effort to codify fetal personhood — in a 2025 Newsweek op-ed in which they urged the Trump administration to withhold federal funding for IVF, calling it “grossly unethical.” They urged Trump to instead promote “restorative reproductive medicine” as the “gold standard” of fertility care, even though “restorative reproductive medicine” does not have the backing of mainstream medical professionals.

If this preview of Rubal’s Summit talk on Live Action’s Instagram is any indication, Rubal will be spreading more than pseudoscientific jargon and anti-abortion propaganda: Her talk also appears to include a heaping helping of shame, in contradiction to the floral-filled website “celebrating womanhood.” Instead, Rubal seemingly places the burden of infertility on women and their personal choices, especially about what and how much they eat. While one of the images in the post urges women to give themselves “grace,” the “tips” on the other slides seem to leave little room for that. This approach encourages women who are already struggling to place their every decision under a microscope. Far from “celebrating” women, Rubal’s session appears to provide a list of ways women can tear themselves down.

Much of what’s shared in in that Instagram preview of Rubal’s session echoes diet culture rhetoric. This rhetoric — which disproportionately impacts women — assigns moral values to food and body types that can ultimately harm a person’s physical and mental health. Rubal and Live Action’s content appears to encourage women to over-analyze what they eat, how much they’re drinking, and even their bowel movements to “treat the root cause” of their fertility challenges.

Women facing fertility challenges don’t need anti-abortion propaganda with a side of diet culture-style shame. They need compassion, sound medical advice, and scientifically-backed options — including IVF.