Republicans on Tuesday blocked a bill that would have created a right to access in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments and mandated that insurance plans cover the practice, deriding the vote as a political ploy.
Senators voted against advancing the bill, 51-44, marking the second time Democrats have sought to put Republicans on the record on the contentious issue. Sixty votes were needed to open debate on the measure.
Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) voted with every Democrat and independent.
GOP senators derided the Democratic legislation, authored by Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), as nothing more than a show vote, accusing Democrats of misrepresenting Republicans’ views on IVF.
Ahead of the vote, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) tried to pass via voice vote a competing bill he and Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) introduced earlier this year that would withhold Medicaid funding from states that ban IVF, but it was blocked by Democrats.
But Democrats maintained that it was important to put members on the record after former President Trump rearranged the chess board on the topic by calling for universal coverage of IVF treatments.
Posted by John3262005
2 Comments
Yet they’ll still say they’re the leaders in protecting IVF.
Amazing it’s so easy to bait them into this kind of craziness. I guess they’re afraid of pissing off their Francoist masters.