GOP Senator Blocks Bill Protecting Access To IVF In Wake Of Alabama Ruling

WASHINGTON ― Democratic legislation seeking to protect access to in vitro fertilization across the country was blocked in the Senate on Wednesday by Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.).

Hyde-Smith dismissed the bill as “a vast overreach” and objected to a unanimous consent request from Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.). The Republican senator claimed the bill would legalize human cloning and commercial surrogacy.

“The bill before us today is a vast overreach that is full of poison pills that go way too far, far beyond ensuring legal access to IVF,” Hyde-Smith said on the Senate floor.

Duckworth refuted Hyde-Smith’s claim, noting that the Access to Family Building Act would establish a statutory right to IVF and other fertility treatments, reserve the right of physicians to provide such treatment without the fear of being prosecuted and allow insurance companies to cover the cost of those treatments.

The Democrat’s bill would allow IVF treatment to continue in states like Alabama, where a court granted embryos the same legal rights as children under the state’s wrongful death statute. Currently, the three largest IVF providers in Alabama have paused services to avoid legal risk.

Duckworth, who had her two children through IVF, introduced the bill last month after Republicans blocked a similar piece of legislation she proposed in 2022. Hyde-Smith also objected to Duckworth’s 2022 bill seeking to protect fertility treatments.

The outrage from the Alabama ruling has left many Republicans faltering when asked about their thoughts on IVF. Although many congressional Republicans recognize that IVF helps build families, many also agree with the Alabama Supreme Court’s decision that embryos should be treated like children.

“No one