WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — All 49 Senate Republicans have signed a letter stating their support for in vitro fertilization (IVF) and accused Democrats of “false fearmongering” over the GOP position on the treatment.
“Senate Democrats have embraced a Summer of Scare Tactics — a partisan campaign of false fearmongering intended to mislead and confuse the American people,” the letter read in part.
Senate Democrats are seeking to highlight Republicans’ resistance to legislation that would make it a right nationwide for women to access IVF 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, D-Ill., 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.
Democrats say it is necessary for Congress to protect access to the fertility treatment after the Supreme Court in 2022 allowed states to ban abortions and the Alabama Supreme Court in February ruled that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law. Several clinics in the state suspended IVF treatments until the state enacted a law to provide legal protections for IVF clinics.
Most Republicans in Congress have expressed support for IVF, but have also largely declined to tell states how to regulate reproductive care. Instead, two Republicans, Sens. Katie Britt of Alabama and Ted Cruz of Texas, have sought to quickly pass a bill that would threaten to withhold Medicaid funding for states where IVF is banned. Democrats blocked that bill Wednesday.
Democrats argued the GOP bill was insufficient because it would still allow states to enact laws that grant embryos or fetuses the same rights as a person. Abortion opponents in over a dozen states have advanced legislation based on the concept of fetal rights.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.