Senate Republicans Did Not Follow the Fertilization Leader

“This is just another show vote for Schumer trying to make an issue out of something that isn’t.”

(Composite / Shutterstock / GettyImages)

This afternoon, the Senate again voted down a bill that would have codified sweeping federal protections for in vitro fertilization treatment. It missed the necessary 60-vote threshold, falling by a 51-44 vote. The tally mimicked the results of the first attempt, which went down on a 48-47 tally in June.

The Right to IVF Act, authored by Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), would have protected access to IVF and other fertility treatments by overriding state-level bans and limitations. It would have required insurance companies to provide coverage for IVF and provided for fertility care for veterans and members of the armed services. The bill would also have authorized the Department of Justice to bring civil action against states and private entities that attempt to deny IVF treatment. The bill has been touted as a long overdue set of protections for Americans who want to start or grow their families.

And after Donald Trump announced, in an election-season gambit, that he would require the government or insurance companies to pay for IVF (while declaring himself “a leader on IVF, which is fertilization”), there appeared to be some political momentum behind the effort. 

Alas, Republican lawmakers weren’t won over. With the exception of just two senators, no Republican was willing to support the Right to IVF Act. Senators I spoke with leading up to the vote panned it as a ploy to bolster political messaging and provide talking points for Democratic candidates up and down the ballot. Trump’s VP nominee, JD Vance, didn’t bother to show.