Washington — Senate Republicans on Tuesday blocked legislation that would protect access to IVF [a procedure in which “extra” human embryos may be frozen indefinitely, subjected to medical experimentation, or discarded as medical waste] in a vote that Democrats held to draw attention to the issue after former President Donald Trump’s recent statements supporting the fertility treatments.
The package, called the Right to IVF Act, would establish a nationwide right “to receive fertility treatment from a health care provider, in accordance with widely accepted and evidence-based medical standards of care.” [Ownership of one human being by another human being was once both “widely accepted” and constitutionally protected. – HH]
Other provisions aim to make the treatments more affordable, and require insurance companies to cover fertility care.
The legislation was first blocked three months ago by Senate Republicans, nearly all of whom argued the bill was too broad. Democrats dared the GOP to reconsider their votes Tuesday, with fewer than 50 days until Election Day.
“If Donald Trump and Republicans want to protect people’s right to access IVF, they can vote yes on it,” Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, who sponsored the legislation, said in an interview with CBS News ahead of the vote.
…article continued below
– Advertisement –
“He’s shown that it only takes one sentence from him, and the Republican Party will fall in line behind him.”
The legislation needed 60 votes to move forward. The vote was 51 to 44, with just two Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — joining Democrats in voting to advance the measure. Collins and Murkowski also backed the package in June.
In a statement, Vice President Kamala Harris said Republicans “have once again made clear that they will not protect access to the fertility treatments many couples need to fulfill their dream of having a child” …