Dem-backed IVF bill slammed by GOP as broad fails key hurdle in Senate

A Democrat-backed bill that would have expanded access to and provide a "nationwide right" to in vitro fertilization (IVF) services failed to garner enough votes to get past a key test vote on Thursday.

The Senate voted 48 to 47, falling short of the necessary 60 votes needed to move forward. The package's failure came as no surprise, as Republicans were anticipated to block the legislation and said the bill was too broad as Democrats work to amplify abortion access and reproductive issues ahead of the 2024 election.

Republicans Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine were the only two GOP lawmakers to vote in favor of the bill.

The vote comes after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are legally people and ruled that those who destroy them are liable. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey subsequently signed legislation into law in March that protects medical professionals from civil and criminal immunity in case of unintentional death or damage to an embryo.

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"Protecting IVF should be the easiest yes vote senators have taken all year. All this bill does is establish a nationwide right to IVF and eliminate barriers for millions of Americans who seek IVF," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor in support of the legislation Thursday.

"It's personal to me. I have a beautiful one-year-old grandson because of the miracle of IVF. And so, in a perfect world, a bill like this would not be necessary. But after the fiasco of the Alabama Supreme Court decision and the generally MAGA views of some on the Supreme Court, Americans are genuinely worried that IVF is the next target of anti-choice