ICYMI FROM JUNE: FACT SHEET: Murray and Duckworth Outline How Republican Attacks on IVF are Serious, Real, and on the Rise Across America
Murray: “The cold hard reality is that this Republican bill does nothing to meaningfully protect IVF from the biggest threats from lawmakers and anti-abortion extremists all over this country. It would still allow states to regulate IVF out of existence!”
Murray: “This bill is silent on fetal personhood, which is the biggest threat to IVF. It is silent on whether states can demand that an embryo be treated the same as a living breathing person, or whether parents should be allowed to have clinics dispose of unused embryos—something that is a common, necessary part of the IVF process.”
Cruz once again refused to address whether he thinks parents should be able to dispose of unused embryos
**VIDEO of Murray’s floor speech HERE***
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), objected on the Senate floor to Senator Cruz’s attempt to pass through unanimous consent a Republican bill that would “require, as a condition of receiving federal Medicaid funding, that states not prohibit in vitro fertilization (IVF) services.” Senator Murray outlined how this woefully inadequate legislation explicitly allows states to restrict IVF by enacting burdensome and unnecessary requirements that could create the kind of legal uncertainty and risk we saw in Alabama that forced clinics to close their doors.
Murray also pointed out how the bill defines IVF in an intentionally incomplete way to sidestep the matter of what happens to frozen embryos and appease Republicans’ extreme anti-abortion allies who vehemently oppose IVF. Senator Murray made clear that Republicans cannot have it both ways, claiming to support IVF while at the same time supporting fetal personhood—an extremist ideology that says an embryo should have the exact same rights as a living, breathing human being and is fundamentally incompatible with IVF.
“I have been perfectly clear about the glaring issue with this Republican bill,” said Senator Murray on the Senate floor. “The cold hard reality is that this Republican bill does nothing to meaningfully protect IVF from the biggest threats from lawmakers and anti-abortion extremists all over this country. It would still allow states to regulate IVF out of existence!”
“And this bill is silent on fetal personhood, which is the biggest threat to IVF,” emphasized Senator Murray on the floor of the Senate. “It is silent on whether states can demand that an embryo be treated the same as a living breathing person, or whether parents should be allowed to have clinics dispose of unused embryos—something that is a common, necessary part of the IVF process. Talk to the experts who provide this care—talk to the families who are seeking it—and that question looms large in their minds. ‘What are we supposed to do if our state says these embryos are living breathing people? Do we have to do this process in another state? What is our legal risk here?’”
“The last time Republicans offered this hollow gesture of a bill, I asked the junior Senator from Texas point blank: do you support letting parents have unused embryos disposed of?” noted Senator Murray in reference to the last effort by Senator Cruz to pass the same bill back in June. “And a funny thing actually happened—he said on the floor he would answer that question, but he never did. He spoke about what the laws in some of our states are—but he never actually said what he supported, he never said what he believes should be federal law, he never mentioned that he once pledged to support a constitutional amendment to establish fetal personhood as the law of the land.”
“And so, I ask all my Republican colleagues once again—as a matter of national policy, should parents be allowed to dispose of unused embryos?” asked Senator Murray in closing. “If so—why is that key provision missing from your bill? Well, we all know why. And if not—how can you look the American people in the eye, and say you support IVF? It doesn’t compute.”
In a statement following Senator Cruz’s speech, Senator Murray said, “Unfortunately, once again, Senator Ted Cruz, refused to answer my very basic question.”
ICYMI, here’s what Barbara Collura, President and CEO of RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association said back in May about the Republican IVF Bill: “The bill allows for states to push for regulations that could severely reduce the standard of care for IVF treatment, such as restrictions on how many embryos are created and what individuals can do with these embryos — decisions that should only be made between patients and their doctors, based on science and clinical guidelines. The solution is federal legislation that enshrines access to IVF for all.”
Senator Murray leads the Right to IVF Act with Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Cory Booker (D-NJ), which would establish a nationwide right to IVF and other assisted reproductive technology, expand insurance coverage of IVF services to lower the cost of IVF treatment for families, and expand access to IVF and other fertility services for our nation’s veterans and servicemembers.
In June, Senators Murray and Duckworth released a new FACT SHEET on how Republican attacks on IVF are serious, real, and on the rise across America. The fact sheet explains how fetal personhood is a full-frontal attack on reproductive freedom and could put an end to IVF care and other assisted reproductive technology, and outlines personhood measures and other state proposals that would negatively impact access to IVF that Republicans are actively pushing in state legislatures and at the federal level.
IVF is overwhelmingly popular with Americans—recent polling found that 85 percent of Americans support increasing access to fertility-related procedures and services. A survey from Pew Research Center last September found that 42 percent of adults say they have used fertility treatments or personally know someone who had—up from 33 percent five years ago.
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