Republicans leaders are tied up in knots on IVF after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are children, a decision that has led some clinics in the state to shut down in vitro fertilization treatments. Senate Democrats have a plan to increase their pain. Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois will bring a bill she authored to federally protect IVF treatments to the floor Wednesday, and ask for unanimous consent to pass it.
“If you truly care about the sanctity of families, and you’re genuinely, actually, honestly interested in protecting IVF, then you need to show it by not blocking this bill on the floor,” Duckworth told reporters Tuesday when she announced her plan. “They aren’t just going to stop in Alabama. Mark my words, if we don’t act now, it will only get worse,” Duckworth said, adding that her bill will protect “every American’s right to become a parent via treatments like IVF.”
Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, a co-author of the bill, bluntly described the tough spot Republicans are in.
“Women aren’t just going to ‘forget’ who is responsible for this—who ripped away their dreams of building their families,” Murray said. “This is not hyperbole. This is not hypothetical. This is happening. If Republicans seriously want to help fix the chaos and devastation they have worked so hard to create, they can help us restore the rights enshrined in Roe—which they overturned to make all this possible—and they can help us pass my legislation to protect and expand IVF care.”
Bringing the bill up for approval by unanimous consent is the fastest way to ensure those protections. All it needs to pass is for no Republican to block it. In 2022, when Duckworth tried to bring it up for approval, GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi did just that.
In light of the disastrous Alabama ruling, Democrats are putting on the pressure to get something done quickly to protect the IVF treatments Republicans claim they support. Even Donald Trump supports IVF, as Duckworth said Tuesday.
“Donald Trump suddenly supports IVF after crowing and claiming and taking credit for the fall of Roe v. Wade. You can’t do both,” Duckworth said. “And so let’s find out tomorrow if any Republicans show up to block the unanimous consent.”
Are they going to buck their dear leader? Maybe, even though the Senate Republicans’ campaign arm has advised them to “clearly and concisely reject efforts by the government to restrict IVF.” But, as Mark Sumner wrote, they’ve painted themselves in a corner with their forced-birth stance. “IVF is fundamentally at odds with the idea that life begins at conception,” Sumner explained. “That’s not a trap that ‘pro-life’ Republicans are going to easily escape. And the more they try to have it both ways, the more everything they’re saying is revealed as nonsense.”
Here’s a chance for these conservative lawmakers to show they support people hoping to build families, but it’s not at all clear they’ll be smart enough to take it. And at least some of these Senate Republicans are insisting the issue doesn’t need a federal solution.
“I’m hopeful that the state of Alabama will address this itself,” Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis told reporters. “Alabama will pass a law to protect IVF,” added Alabama Sen. Katie Britt. Don’t hold your breath on that one, senators.
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The economy seems to be going great, but lots of voters still say they aren’t feeling it. So how should Democrats deal with this conundrum? On this week’s episode of “The Downballot,” communications consultant Anat Shenker-Osorio tells us that the first step is to reframe the debate, focusing not on “the economy”—an institution many feel is unjust—but rather on voters’ economic well-being. Shenker-Osorio advises Democrats to run on a populist message that emphasizes specifics, like delivering tangible kitchen-table economic benefits and protecting personal liberties, including the right to an abortion.
