WASHINGTON — The bitterly divided U.S. Senate on Tuesday reached an impasse over how to best provide nationwide coverage for in vitro fertilization, even as lawmakers from both political parties said they want it.
Republicans voted against the Democratic bill, which could prevent states from enacting “harmful or unjustified restrictions” on the procedure and strengthen access for military members and veterans. Two Republicans voted with Democrats — Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
That came shortly after Senate Democrats — who narrowly control the chamber — in a procedural move blocked a GOP bill by senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Katie Britt of Alabama that would have barred Medicaid funding in any state that bans in vitro fertilization.
The 51-44 vote that prevented Democrats from advancing to a final vote came after numerous floor speeches and news conferences, including one by the Harris-Walz presidential campaign that sought to raise the issue ahead of the November election. It needed 60 votes to advance to a vote.
“This is a chance for my colleagues across the aisle to vote on what their mouths are saying,” said Illinois Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a bill sponsor and mother of two children born through in vitro fertilization. “They say they support in vitro fertilization. Go ahead — vote for it.”
Duckworth said the bill would create vital in vitro fertilization services for U.S. military members and veterans, many of whom experience infertility or have difficulty having children because of their service.
“It allows our soldiers to preserve and freeze their genetic material before they go into combat. That way, if they come home with injuries that make them infertile, they’ll have their genetic material preserved and they can have the beautiful families they’ve always dreamed of,” Duckworth said.
Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris released a written statement after the vote criticizing GOP senators for blocking the bill.
“Every woman in every state must have reproductive freedom,” Harris wrote. “And yet, Republicans in Congress have once again made it clear that they will not protect access to the fertility treatments that many couples need to fulfill their dream of having a child.”
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pennsylvania) said Tuesday that Senate Republicans have “failed” American women.
“Fall Roe v. Wade not only took away abortion access for millions of women, but also jeopardized fertility treatments for Americans desperate to start a family,” Casey said in a statement. “This bill will ensure that women’s access to in vitro fertilization cannot be reversed at the whims of extreme politicians.”
Republicans blocked the Democrats’ bill earlier this year. However, Senate leadership scheduled another vote after Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump rekindled the problem in August when he said his administration would require insurance companies to pay for in vitro fertilization — a significant departure from the Republican Party’s approach to the issue.
“We will, under the Trump administration, pay for that treatment,” Trump told NBC News. “We will mandate that the insurance company pay.”
Alabama ruling
Democrats began talking broadly about preserving access to in vitro fertilization earlier this year following an Alabama Supreme Court ruling gave an opinion in February, frozen embryos became children under state law.
The ruling forced all in vitro fertilization clinics in the state to suspend operations until the state legislature makes a decision. passed the law providing these clinics with criminal and civil protection.
Democrats later argued that passing the life-begins-at-conception law, supported by most conservative Republicans, conflicts with access to in vitro fertilization, which typically involves freezing more embryos than can be implanted.
These frozen embryos can be saved or discarded, depending on the patient’s wishes, clinic policy, and state law. Some conservatives believe that discarding should not be legal or are completely opposed to the process.
For example, the Southern Baptist Convention voted earlier this year against in vitro fertilizationwriting in the resolution that couples should consider adoption and that the process “uses inhumane methods to determine viability.”
“We join in the pain of couples who have been diagnosed with infertility or who are currently having difficulty conceiving, affirm their divine desire to have children, and encourage them to consider the ethical implications of assisted reproductive technologies as they seek God for hope, grace, and wisdom in the midst of suffering,” the statement reads.
Senate Democrats’ push to protect in vitro fertilization rights has gone 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 determining the outcome of the presidential election in November, as well as which political party will control the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Republican vice presidential candidate and Ohio senator JD Vance did not participate in Tuesday’s vote, but voted against Democrats passing the in vitro fertilization bill when it was lying on the floor in June.
Cruz and Britt’s IVF bill
Before the Senate voted on the Democratic bill, Cruz asked for quick approval of the in vitro fertilization bill he and Britt introduced at the beginning of this year.
Washington state Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat, blocked his motion for unanimous consent.
During debate on the bill, Britt questioned why Democrats had not scheduled a roll call vote on her bill, saying it could have obtained the 60 votes necessary for final passage.
“Today we have an opportunity to act quickly and decisively to protect permanent nationwide access to IVF for loving American families,” Britt said. “Our bill is the only bill that protects access to IVF while also protecting religious liberty.”
The Britt-Cruz bill has three co-sponsors, 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 pass fetal personhood laws, which she called “the single greatest threat to in vitro fertilization.”
“It doesn’t say anything about whether states can require that an embryo be treated the same as a living, breathing person,” Murray said. “Or whether parents should be able to have clinics dispose of unused embryos, which is a common, necessary part of the in vitro fertilization process.”
Cruz tried to push his legislation through a unanimous consent process that allows any senator to ask for approval. Any senator can then block that request from moving forward — as Murray did. There is no vote recorded as part of the UC process.
Cruz before asked for unanimous consent to pass the bill in Junebut then it was also blocked.
Legal protection
Democrats 64-page bill would provide legal protection to anyone seeking infertility treatment, including in vitro fertilization, as well as to healthcare professionals providing this type of care.
It would prohibit state and federal governments from “imposing harmful or unreasonable restrictions or requirements” on access to in vitro fertilization.
The legislation would expand the scope of infertility care for soldiers and veterans, as well as their spouses, partners and surrogate mothers.
The American Society of Reproductive Medicine supports the Democratic legislation. Advocacy and Policy Director Sean Tipton said in a statement this week that the Democrats’ in vitro fertilization bill “protects the rights of Americans to receive the medical services they may need to have children and will ensure that no health care provider faces legal consequences for trying to help their patients who are trying to start a family.”
“This legislation also expands access to in vitro fertilization treatment for all Americans by mandating that employer-sponsored and other public insurance plans cover infertility treatment,” Tipton wrote. “Importantly, it would ensure that the federal government does right by its employees by providing coverage to active duty military, veterans and civilian personnel.”
