Donald Trump desperately wants to close the ever-widening gender gap among voters in this upcoming election, and has apparently decided the way to do it is to steal Democrats’ plans. At a Michigan rally on Thursday, Trump promised that if he wins in November, “your government will pay for or your insurance company will be mandated to pay for all costs associated with IVF treatment.”
“We want to produce babies in this country,” Trump said, which might not be as compelling a message to women as he thinks.
But now that Trump has come around on the issue, it’s a perfect opportunity for Democrats to bring back proposed legislation that would do just what he promised—and see if this time around Republicans will take them up on it.
Back in June, Senate Democrats brought the Right to IVF Act to the floor for a vote. The package of bills includes: Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s proposal for federal protections to access fertility treatments; and legislation from Washington Sen. Patty Murray and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker that mandates IVF coverage in federal health care plans, the Affordable Care Act, and Medicaid, as well as expanding access to fertility treatments and counseling for military members and veterans.
Republicans blocked it with a filibuster, a tactic that uses the threat of unlimited debate to stall a bill’s progress. Maine’s Susan Collins and Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski were the only Republican senators who voted with Democrats.
But now that Trump has blessed the idea, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and team could bring it back up for a vote. Schumer made the strategic decision to switch his own vote to “no” on the package in June, which under Senate rules gives him the option to bring the bill back to the floor sometime in the future.
There’s no time like the present! Or September, when Congress comes back in session. Republicans would surely relish another chance to stand with their leader.
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