WASHINGTON ― Last month, GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump surprised almost everybody in the nation’s capital by floating a plan to require insurance companies to pay for the costs of in vitro fertilization for women who need it.
On Tuesday, Senate Republicans blocked a bill that would do just that.
It’s the second time in recent months that the GOP has filibustered the Right to IVF Act, Democratic legislation that, in addition to ensuring insurance coverage for such treatments, would also enshrine into federal law a right for individuals to receive IVF treatment as well as for doctors to provide it.
The vote fell largely along party lines, 51 to 44, short of the 60 votes the bill would’ve needed to advance.
“Republicans want people to think they support IVF because they know how unpopular that position is. They want to keep their true agenda hidden from the public,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) warned during a press conference on the steps of the Capitol. He was flanked by his Democratic colleagues, who held up large photos of families who have used IVF.
Democrats initially forced a vote on the bill in June after a ruling earlier this year by the Alabama Supreme Court that declared that frozen embryos can be considered children. IVF providers in the state responded by ceasing to offer services for fear of being held legally liable if embryos were destroyed. The GOP state legislature later passed a bill extending liability protections for IVF providers.
Republicans have insisted since then that they support IVF ― even if some in their evangelical base are opposed to the treatment ― as they seek to appeal to women voters ahead of November’s elections.
“We are going to be, under the Trump administration, we are going to be paying for that treatment,” Trump said in August when asked about IVF. “We’re going to be mandating that the insurance company pay.”
Republicans have long opposed insurance mandates (spending years railing against the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate, for example), and few in Congress expressed an interest in the former president’s suggestion. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a Trump ally, said flat out he wouldn’t support it, while others voiced concerns about the cost of such a proposal.
Democrats, meanwhile, never took it seriously.
“American women are not stupid,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said last month. “Making vague promises about insurance coverage does not stop a single extremist judge or state legislature from banning IVF.”
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), who had both of her children with the help of IVF, said Republicans “have spent weeks lying about their records on IVF and pretending to champion this cause.”
“They’re running on a campaign platform that would ban IVF and abortion nationwide,” the senator added on a press call Tuesday organized by Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.
Senate Democratic leadership brought up the Right to IVF Act for another vote to put pressure on Republicans, particularly those up for reelection this year like Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Rick Scott (Fla.). Both GOP senators dismissed the Democrats’ bill as unnecessary, even as they pledged support for IVF.
“This is a vote we already had,” Scott told HuffPost. “They didn’t try to improve it. It’s just a political statement by Schumer, not to solve a problem.”
The Florida Republican tried instead to pass his bill that would make it easier to save for IVF costs by doubling the contribution limits of Health Savings Accounts. But Democrats blocked that measure, saying it wouldn’t protect access to the treatment.
“Women who struggle to have kids don’t deserve to be someone’s political punching bag,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said during Tuesday’s press conference. “They do not deserve to be yanked around by politicians who — when push comes to shove — won’t actually vote to help them.”
Jennifer Bendery contributed reporting.