Senate Republicans Block Democrats’ Bill to Guarantee IVF Access: NPR

Sen. Cory Booker, D-NJ., joined by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, left, and Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., right, speak about the need to protect in vitro fertilization (IVF) rights ahead of the Senate vote on the issue.

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Ben Curtis/AP

Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic bill that would provide nationwide access to IVF treatment, the second time Democrats have tried to pass the measure in the Senate and failed.

Reproductive freedom has remained a central issue in several Senate races that will determine which party controls the chamber after the November elections. Democrats used the vote in an attempt to create a public contrast with Republicans on an issue that has galvanized voters across the country.

The procedural vote required 60 votes to pass the bill, but it was defeated by a vote of 51-44.

Days before the vote, GOP lawmakers dismissed the move as a “show vote.” Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters Tuesday that “Republicans fully support IVF,” adding, “This is simply an attempt by Democrats to create a political problem where there is none.”

But the sponsor of the Right to IVF Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth disagreed with the Republican Party’s claims to support IVF. She told NPR that she changed an earlier version of her legislation after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled in February that discarded embryos from fertility treatments were considered children under state law. That prompted doctors in the state to halt IVF procedures and raised concerns nationwide about similar bills passed in other states blocking access to the treatments.

Legislation would create a nationwide right to fertility treatments

Duckworth’s bill would create a legal right for individuals to access in vitro fertilization treatments and give the Justice Department the authority to enforce the law. It would also provide military personnel with access to treatment and counseling and increase the affordability of fertility care by requiring insurers in both private and public health plans to cover treatments.

Duckworth, an Iraq war veteran who was wounded in combat and has given birth to two daughters through IVF, said Trump’s recent public statement that he supports IVF was reason enough to call for a second vote on the legislation.

Senate vote follows Trump’s public support for IVF

“That’s all this bill does, you have the right to use IVF if you want to,” Duckworth said in an interview. Duckworth said she agreed with Trump’s position that the federal government should cover the cost of the treatments and that insurers should be required to cover them. But she said the fundamental problem with his proposal is that federal coverage doesn’t matter if some states have laws that prohibit access if embryos are considered persons.

“You can sugarcoat it all you want, but if there’s no one to do the procedure, you don’t have access to it. So his argument is really a diversionary tactic and is designed to fool and mislead the general public, which is a disservice to the American people,” Duckworth argued.

Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, who is up for re-election in November, launched his own proposal Monday and urged Democrats to vote on it. His plan would expand health savings accounts so people can increase their contributions to pay for IVF. He noted that his daughter is undergoing IVF and called the Democratic effort this week a message.

“They need to sit down with us and try to come up with a bill that will pass,” Scott said.

Duckworth says her bill would accomplish what Scott wants in terms of increasing coverage for the procedures. But she says Scott is trying to have it both ways, telling NPR, “You can’t support a fertilized egg as a human being — this personhood thing that Rick Scott has said he supports — and also say you support IVF. The two are contradictory.”

Democrats use the vote as a campaign issue

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer attempted to tie Senate Republicans to Project 2025, the detailed policy agenda published by the Heritage Foundation that includes restrictions on reproductive health care. Trump and most GOP lawmakers have rejected the document, but ahead of Tuesday’s vote, Schumer said that if GOP senators vote no on the IVF bill, “this will be further proof that Project 2025 is alive and well.”

The issue also plays a major role in the battle for control of the House of Representatives. GOP candidates in swing House races have emphasized their support for IVF in campaign ads, pushing back against Democratic arguments that a Trump-controlled White House and GOP-controlled Congress would impose restrictions on reproductive health care. A handful of Republicans in the House have co-sponsored legislation sponsored by Democratic Rep. Susan Wild of Pennsylvania to ensure access to IVF.

But Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), chair of the House Democratic Campaign Committee, said moderates have voted for other policies that run counter to their recent support for IVF.

“Now that they realize this is a losing issue for them, they are desperately trying to obscure their extreme record from the voters they seek to represent,” she said. “As they have done time and time again, the American people will reject extreme attacks on reproductive freedom in November, giving Democrats a majority in the House that will defend freedom.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson has publicly expressed support for IVF access following debate over the Alabama Supreme Court ruling earlier this year, but has not yet introduced any legislation on the topic.

NPR’s Barbara Sprunt contributed to this report