WASHINGTON – For the second time within four months, Senate Democrats forced a vote on the IVF Rights Act, but it was blocked by Republicans who called it unnecessary and politically motivated as Vice President Kamala Harris sought access to in vitro fertilization. 2024 campaign issue.
After Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump called himself a “leader on fertilization, IVF” on Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader D.N.Y. Chuck Schumer forced the vote. Recent discussion with Harris and made a vague plan forcing insurance companies or the government to pay for treatment for free.
The vote was 51-44, short of the 60 needed to pass a resolution, with Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Republican, and Susan Collins of Maine, again voting with Democrats in favor of the bill. All other GOP senators present voted against it.
The bill would establish broad protections and nationwide rights for individuals to access in vitro fertilization — or IVF — treatments, and ensure that health care providers can offer these services without restrictions or interference.
Harris, the Democratic candidate, said in a recent ABC debate that “under Donald Trump’s abortion bans, couples who pray and dream of having a family are being denied IVF treatment.”
Trump responded by voicing his support for IVF and noting that the Alabama Supreme Court’s “very negative” decision that threatens access to IVF treatment repealed by the state legislature.
Senate Minority Whip John Thune, RS.D., dismissed it as “another show vote” and vowed that “Republicans will fully support IVF.”
“This is not an attempt to adopt a law. This is not an attempt to get results or pass legislation,” Tune said. “It’s just an attempt to try to create a political issue where the Democrats don’t exist.”
After the bill failed Tuesday, Harris said in a statement: “Every woman in every state should have reproductive freedom. However, Republicans in Congress have made it clear that they will not protect access to the fertility treatments that many couples need to fulfill their desire to have children.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, the bill’s author, said she was concerned that some states could pass laws that would define a “fertilized egg as a person,” as the Alabama Supreme Court did. It prevents IVF.”
As the bill went down, Duckworth told NBC News that the way forward was for Democrats to sweep the 2024 election and bring it back up in Congress. He predicted that the Democrats would “raise the filibuster” Getting around the 60-vote requirement that requires 50 senators to vote to change the rules.
“I think it’s really important for families across the country to be able to start their families when they want to,” Duckworth said.
Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, the Republican vice presidential nominee, did not vote on the campaign trail Tuesday but accused Schumer of playing “political games.”
“President Trump and Senator Vance have made themselves clear: they fully support guaranteed IVF access for every American family,” Vance spokeswoman Taylor Van Kirk said.
Republicans have proposed narrower billSens. Katie Britt, R-Ala. and authored by Ted Cruz, R-Texas, that would cut Medicaid funding for states if they ban IVF. Democrats say there are loopholes in the bill.