Democrats are forcing a vote on women’s right to IVF in an election-year push on reproductive care

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats are seeking to highlight Republicans’ resistance to legislation that would make it a right nationwide for women to access in vitro fertilization and other fertility treatments, holding a vote on the matter Thursday as part of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s effort to drive an election-year contrast on reproductive care.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a military veteran who has used the fertility treatment to have her two children, has championed the bill, called the Right to IVF Act. The bill would also expand access through insurance as well as for military members and veterans.

“These are real solutions that would help tens of thousands of Americans every year build the families of their dreams,” Duckworth, D-Ill., said this week.

But most Republicans were expected to vote against advancing the measure, instead offering their own, alternative legislation that would discourage states from enacting outright bans on the treatment. Democrats in turn blocked it Wednesday.

The overtly political back-and-forth, with no attempt at finding a legislative compromise, showed how quickly Congress has shifted into a campaign mindset five months out from the fall election.

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