WASHINGTON: U.S. Senate bill seeking to establish federal protections and expand insurance coverage for fertility treatments failed to pass on Tuesday, as most Republicans voted against it, despite recent support for such policies from former President Donald Trump.
The bill fell short of the required 60-vote threshold, with a 51-44 vote, marking the second time Republicans blocked it. Democrats, who hold a slim 51-49 majority in the Senate, were unable to secure the necessary bipartisan support.
Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth, who sponsored the bill, first pushed for a vote on the measure in late February following a ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court. The court determined that embryos used in in vitro fertilization (IVF) should be classified as children, a decision that threatened access to IVF, a treatment used by millions of Americans.
“The freedom to access reproductive care is at risk for countless women who are hoping for the chance to have a child,” said Duckworth, who had her two daughters through fertility treatments, during a Senate floor speech after Tuesday’s vote. “Republicans seem to prioritize protecting life only when it’s in the form of a few cells in a lab freezer.”
The bill’s failure comes just days after Trump, a leading Republican presidential candidate, expressed support for federal funding or insurance coverage for IVF during a campaign event in La Crosse, Wisconsin, in August. “We want to produce babies in this country, right?” Trump said at the event, surprising some hardline Republicans who oppose fertility treatments on moral grounds.
Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding Tuesday’s vote.