Republicans tank bill securing access to IVF nationwide in election year win for Democrats

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Senate Democrats forced an election year vote on a bill to protect access to in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and other fertility treatments, putting Republicans on the spot. 

Despite voting down the legislation Thursday, all 49 Senate GOP lawmakers signed a memo stating they 'strongly support continued nationwide access to IVF.'

They took issue with the Democrats' bill, saying it goes too far and is a 'political stunt.'

Last week, Republicans also blocked another Democrat-led bill to secure access to contraception saying it was a 'false scare tactic' ahead of the election.

Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Katie Britt, R-Ala., have their own version of a bill to provide IVF and fertility services, but the Democrats say it doesn't go far enough.

The vote comes months after fertility clinics started pausing services following the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that embryos are children. The decision sparked outrage across the country - from both Republicans and Democrats - and put thousands of families trying to have children through IVF in limbo.

Sens. Ted Cruz , R-Texas, and Katie Britt, R-Ala., have their own version of a bill to provide IVF and fertility services

A month later, Alabama Republican Gov. Kay Ivey signed a law protecting access to IVF following the outcry.

The vote Thursday also occurred hours after the Supreme Court upheld access to the abortion pill mifepristone and rejected a lawsuit that would have impacted abortion access nationwide. 

It is the conservative court's first major decision on reproductive rights since it overturned Roe v. Wade, ending the constitutional right to an abortion nationwide in 2022.

Mifepristone is used in more than half of abortions in the United States and has been used by more than 5.6 million women since its approval in 2000.

'The anti-abortion movement is not yet finished,' Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Thursday. 

'Now that Roe is gone, [Republicans] have set their sights on a new target: in vitro fertilization So today the question before the Senate is very simple: Do we agree that Americans should be free to use IVF if they want to?' 

The vote comes months after fertility clinics started pausing services following the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that embryos are children

Senate Democrats push bill protecting access to fertility treatment called the Access to Family Building Act after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled embryos are babies

Earlier this year, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., along with Senators Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., introduced legislation that would protect a person's right to access fertility services such as IVF and healthcare providers that provide such services.

The bill would also protect a person's rights regarding the use or disposal of their reproductive genetic materials and would allow the Justice Department to pursue civil action against any state or government official that violates such protections.

Duckworth noted the issue is very personal to her. The senator and mother of two daughters is the first sitting senator to have a baby while in office. She noted she was only able to become a mom through IVF after her military service in Iraq.

Duckwoth blasted the ruling saying the people claiming to be 'defending family values' are actively trying to enact policies that would prevent Americans from creating those families.

The push by Senate Democrats to protect IVF is the latest effort as families, healthcare providers and officials have been scrambling in the wake of the bombshell Alabama ruling which raises concerns that clinics could be held liable for destroying fertilized eggs.

Some fertility clinics in Alabama have already paused treatments amid fear of prosecution as the ruling opened the door to wrongful death lawsuits in all cases where embryos do not survive being thawed and transferred to the uterus.

Embryo selection for IVF shown under a light micrograph - the treatment is overwhelmingly popular with Americans

The highlighted states have laws on the books stipulating that life begins at the moment of fertilization. In Louisiana, the intentional disposal or destruction of a human embryo is illegal

President Biden called the ruling 'outrageous and unacceptable' in a statement.

Democrats have slammed the decision as a direct result of the Supreme Court decision in 2022 to overturn Roe v Wade.

'Make no mistake: this ruling is a direct result of Donald Trump's promise to overturn Roe v. Wade—and I've been warning that IVF would be next for years,' Duckworth said on Tuesday.

She put the onus on Senate Republicans saying if they 'truly care about the sanctity of families, then they need to show it by not blocking this bill.'

Republicans have been scrambling to reject the Alabama ruling.

Former President Donald Trump said he would 'strongly support the availability of IVF' and called on Alabama to find an immediate solution.

GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley said she sees frozen embryos as babies but later attempted to clarify that she did not say she agreed with the Alabama ruling.

Former President Trump called on Alabama to find a solution following the ruling and said he supports the availability of IVF treatment. Democrats say the AL ruling is the direct result of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade with the addition of three justices he appointed

Haley, who has talked in general terms about her personal struggles with fertility, said she used artificial insemination to have her son Nalin, the second of her two children. She said she views embryos as babies but later clarified she does not agree with the Alabama ruling 

The National Republican Senatorial Committee also told DailyMail.com that none of their candidates support a ban on IVF.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said in a statement following the court ruling that he supports IVF treatment. 

But he along with 124 other House Republicans backed the Life Begins at Conception bill last year. It does not include a carveout for IVF treatment, though it does state nothing in the bill should be 'construed to authorize the prosecution of any woman for the death of her unborn child.'