Senate Republicans block Democratic bill to protect IVF nationwide

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic-led bill Thursday to codify broad federal protections for in vitro fertilization in the midst of a growing partisan clash over reproductive rights in the United States.

The vote was 48-47, with just two Republicans voting for it: Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine. Others in the GOP said the legislation went too far, instead signing on to a scaled-back version that Democrats said was ineffectual.

President Joe Biden chastised Senate Republicans who opposed the measure in a statement Thursday night.

"Donald Trump’s MAGA Republican allies voted against protecting access to fertility treatments for women who are desperately trying to get pregnant," Biden said. "This is outrageous and unacceptable."

The Right To IVF Act was brought up for a vote by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to put the GOP in a political predicament less than five months before the 2024 elections. Democrats say the conservative-led Supreme Court’s decision in 2022 to eliminate federal abortion rights means that access to contraception and IVF are also at risk.

Introduced by Sens. Patty Murray, D-Wash., Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., and Cory Booker, D-N.J., it would establish a federal right for individuals to access IVF-assisted reproductive technology services, for providers to offer the procedure and for insurers to cover it. Those rights could not be hindered by states.

At the heart of the tension is a belief among many social conservatives that life begins at conception. If written into law, that could mean that embryos discarded as part of the IVF process — a common occurrence — are treated as murder or manslaughter. Many Republicans, including House Speaker Mike