Jay L. Clendenin/The Washington Post/Getty Images
A senior embryologist at West Coast Fertility Center in Fountain Valley, California, adds medium to a petri dish containing embryos before freezing them on February 29.
CNN
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Senate Republicans voted Thursday to block a Democratic-sponsored bill that would guarantee access to IVF across the country.
The bill did not advance on a procedural vote; 60 votes were needed to move forward. Republicans criticized the Democratic-led bill as an unnecessary overreach and a political show vote.
“Why should I vote for a bill that solves a problem that doesn’t exist? There is no problem. There are no limits on IVF and there shouldn’t be,” Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas told reporters.
The vote is part of a broader effort by Senate Democrats to confront Republicans over reproductive health care ahead of the November election, an issue that Democrats are highlighting this month marking the second anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
“Today, women and families across America are not just worried about the repeal of Roe. They are worried about what comes next, including the infringement of reproductive freedoms that no one ever thought would be at risk. That includes access to services like IVF,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a speech on the Senate floor earlier this week.
The procedural vote is likely to be defeated by Republicans, who have criticized the Democratic-led bill as an unnecessary overreach and a political show-stopper.
The Senate bill, the IVF Rights Act, would enshrine in federal law the right of individuals to receive IVF treatment and the right of doctors to provide it, overriding attempts to restrict access at the state level.
The bill aims to make IVF treatment more affordable by requiring coverage for fertility treatments under employer-sponsored insurance and certain public health plans, and it also expands military and veterans’ health insurance coverage for fertility treatments, including IVF.
The IVF bill was introduced by Democrats including Sens. Patty Murray of Washington, Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and Cory Booker of New Jersey.
The vote came after the Alabama Supreme Court earlier this year ruled for the first time that frozen embryos are children and that those who destroy them can be held liable for wrongful death. Reproductive rights groups warned that the decision could have a chilling effect on fertility treatment.
State legislatures have taken steps to protect IVF in the wake of the ruling, but Democrats say it’s just one example of how access to reproductive health care is under threat nationwide.
Representatives of Southern Baptist churches, for example, approved a resolution on Wednesday expressing concern about the way in vitro fertilization is routinely performed, lamenting that the creation of surplus frozen embryos often leads to “the destruction of human fetal life.”
IVF poll is the latest Democrats are moving to introduce legislation that is expected to be blocked by Republicans. Last week, Senate Republicans voted to block a Democratic-sponsored bill that would have guaranteed access to birth control.
Most Republicans dismissed the effort as an unnecessary and overly broad political message vote, but Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine switched sides to vote for the bill.
Republicans have introduced their own bills on IVF and contraception: Republican Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama and Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas have introduced a bill called the IVF Protection Act, while Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa has introduced a separate bill to increase access to contraception.
Cruz and Britt tried to pass the IVF bill through a unanimous consent call in the Senate on Wednesday, but Democrats blocked the effort.
Murray, who opposed the request, criticized the Republican bill, arguing that the state would “enact burdensome and unnecessary requirements, creating legal uncertainty and risk that could force clinics to close again.”
Senators Britt and Cruz’s IVF bill would make states that ban access to IVF ineligible for Medicaid funding, but according to a press release, the bill “allows states to enforce health and safety standards regarding the practice of IVF.”
This story and headline have been updated with additional developments.
CNN’s Morgan Rimmer contributed to this report.
