WASHINGTON — There was no firm disagreement in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday over how best to protect assisted reproduction nationwide, even as lawmakers from both parties insisted they want to do so.
Republicans voted against moving forward with a Democratic bill that would have prevented states from enacting “harmful or unjustified restrictions” on the procedure and would have increased access for military members and veterans. Two Republicans voted with Democrats – Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
This came just a brief time after Senate Democrats – who narrowly control the chamber – used a procedural step to block a Republican bill by Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Katie Britt of Alabama that would have banned Medicaid funds from states that ban IVF.
The 51-44 vote prevented the Democrats’ bill from making it to the final vote after numerous speeches and press conferences, including from the Harris and Walz presidential campaigns, attempting to bring the issue to the forefront ahead of the November election. The bill needed 60 votes to pass.
“This is an opportunity for my colleagues from across the aisle to put their voice where they put it,” said Illinois Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth, who is sponsoring the bill and is the mother of two children born through artificial insemination. “They say they support artificial insemination. Please, vote for it.”
Duckworth said the legislation would provide crucial IVF services to U.S. military personnel and veterans, as many of them suffer from infertility or difficulty having children because of their service.
“It allows our soldiers to store and freeze their genetic material before they go to a combat zone. So if they come home with injuries that leave them infertile, they have already preserved their genetic material and can create the beautiful families they want,” Duckworth said.
Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris released a written statement after the vote criticizing Republican senators for blocking the bill.
“Every woman in every state must have reproductive freedom,” Harris wrote. “But Republicans in Congress have made it clear once again that they will not protect access to fertility treatments that many couples need to fulfill their dream of having children.”
republican blocked the Democrats’ bill earlier this yearBut the Senate leadership has called for another vote after Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has reignited the topic in August, when he said his administration would require health insurers to cover IVF costs – a clear break with the Republicans’ previous approach to the issue.
“Under the Trump administration, we will pay for this treatment,” Trump said in an interview with NBC News. “We will require the insurance company to pay.”
Verdict in Alabama
Democrats began talking at length about preserving access to IVF earlier this year after the Alabama Supreme Court issued a statement in February that frozen embryos were children under state law.
This ruling forced all IVF clinics in the state to cease operations until the state parliament a law passed Ensuring criminal and civil protection for these clinics.
Democrats have since argued that enshrining in law the belief that life begins at conception – as held by most conservative Republicans – conflicts with access to artificial insemination, which typically results in more embryos being frozen than would be implanted.
These frozen embryos can be stored or discarded, depending on the patient’s wishes, the clinic’s policies, and the laws of the state in question. Some conservatives believe that disposal should not be legal, or oppose the process altogether.
The Southern Baptist Convention, for example voted against IVF earlier this yearand wrote in a resolution that couples should consider adoption and that the process “uses dehumanizing methods to determine fitness for life.”
“We mourn with those couples who have been diagnosed with infertility or who are currently struggling to conceive a child. We affirm their divine desire to have children and encourage them to consider the ethical implications of assisted reproductive technologies as they turn to God in their suffering for hope, grace and wisdom,” the statement said.
Senate Democrats’ push to protect IVF went hand in hand with their efforts to strengthen other reproductive rights, such as access to contraception and abortion.
These issues could play a significant role in deciding the outcome of the presidential election in November and which political party controls the House and Senate.
Republican vice presidential candidate and Ohio Senator JD Vance missed the vote on Tuesday, but voted against the continuation of the Democrats’ IVF law when it was on the ground in June.
IVF Bill by Cruz, Britt
Before the Senate voted on the Democrats’ bill, Cruz asked for quick approval of an IVF bill that he and Britt was introduced earlier this year.
Washington State Democratic Senator Patty Murray blocked his request for unanimous consent.
During the debate on the bill, Britt asked why Democrats had not scheduled a roll call vote on their bill, saying it could get the 60 votes needed for final passage.
“Today we have the opportunity to act quickly and overwhelmingly to secure nationwide access to IVF for loving American families,” Britt said. “Our bill is the only one that protects access to IVF while preserving religious freedom.”
The Britt Cruz bill has three co-signers, including Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis, Kansas Senator Roger Marshall, and Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker.
Murray said the Britt-Cruz bill does not address what would happen in states that allow fetal personification by law, which she called “the biggest threat to IVF.”
“There is no discussion about whether states can require that an embryo be treated the same as a living, breathing human being,” Murray said. “Or whether parents should be allowed to have clinics discard unused embryos, which is a common, necessary part of the IVF process.”
Cruz tried to pass his bill using the unanimous consent procedure, which allows any senator to ask for consent. Any senator can then block the motion from moving forward – as Murray did. There is no roll call vote under the unanimous consent procedure.
Cruz previously asked for unanimous approval to pass the law in Junebut was also blocked at that time.
Legal protection
Democrats 64-page draft bill would have provided legal protection to anyone seeking fertility treatment (including IVF) and to healthcare professionals providing this type of treatment.
It would have prohibited state governments and the federal government from imposing “harmful or unjustified restrictions or requirements” on access to IVF.
The law would have improved fertility treatment coverage for military personnel and veterans, as well as their spouses, partners and surrogates.
The American Society for Reproductive Medicine supports the Democrats’ bill. Legal Services and Policy Director Sean Tipton wrote in a statement released this week that the Democrats’ IVF bill “would protect Americans’ right to seek the medical care they may need to have children and ensure that no health care provider faces legal consequences for trying to help their patients start families.”
“This bill also improves access to IVF treatments for all Americans by requiring that employer-sponsored insurance plans and other public insurance plans cover fertility treatments,” Tipton wrote. “Importantly, it would ensure that the federal government does right by its own employees by providing health insurance for active military personnel, veterans, and civilian personnel.”
