Democrats counter Republican IVF initiative with new legislation
Senate Democrats, led by Senators Duckworth, Murray, and Booker, introduced the Right to IVF Act to safeguard reproductive rights. They criticized the Republican proposal for lacking IVF protection and serving as a PR tactic. The Democrats aim to combat GOP restrictions on IVF and enhance access to vital reproductive services at a lower cost. The debate extends beyond abortion, highlighting broader reproductive rights issues.
Senate Democrats attacked a Republican plan to put federal protections around in vitro fertilization efforts with a new proposal.
Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Patty Murray (D-WA), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) are looking to introduce the Right to IVF Act and bring reproductive rights to the center of the stage again.
“Unlike GOP legislation that would not protect IVF and is only a PR tool for Republicans to hide their extremism, our Right to IVF Act would actually protect Americans from attempts to restrict IVF and would allow more people to access these vital services at a lower cost,” Murray said in a statement.
Besides making abortion access a central component of their messaging strategy, Democrats have added other reproductive measures, such as IVF, to the list of things to slam Republicans for restricting.
“Republican attacks on reproductive rights since the Dobbs decision have not stopped at abortion — their reckless crusade to criminalize basic reproductive health care and give embryos the exact same rights as living, breathing human beings has put IVF in jeopardy and endangered the lives of pregnant women,” Murray said.
This initiative seeks to maintain IVF accessibility and affordability by establishing a statutory right for patient access, protecting providers from legal risks, ensuring service members and veterans access, and requiring more health insurers to include coverage for fertility treatments.
Sens. Katie Britt (R-AL) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) introduced their own IVF Protection Act last month. The bill amends the Social Security Act by providing federal protection for IVF services. If a state or local government bans IVF, that jurisdiction loses its Medicaid funding.
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Democrats criticized the legislation for its vague definition and failure to prohibit states from imposing restrictive IVF policies.
Duckworth also contested the Republican proposal, arguing that it would incentivize states to simultaneously ban IVF and cut Medicaid funding.
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