Democrats Block Cruz-Britt Effort to Pass Nationwide IVF Protection

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senate Democrats once again blocked an effort by U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Katie Britt (R-Ala.) to pass their IVF Protection Act, which would ensure that states do not prohibit access to in vitro fertilization (IVF) services.

On the Senate floor, Sen. Cruz said, “Today, unfortunately, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are staging an empty show vote, on what they call an IVF bill, in order to stoke baseless fears about IVF and push their broader political agenda. Let's be clear, there is not a single senator in this chamber, on either side of the aisle, who wants to ban IVF. All 100 senators, to the best of my knowledge, support IVF. Not a single one has called for banning it.

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“I invite my Democrat colleagues to actually do what they claim they want to do, which is work with me today and stand together to pass clear federal legislation protecting IVF.

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“The American people deserve straightforward pro-IVF legislation. That's why my colleague, Senator Britt, and I have introduced the IVF Protection Act, legislation that offers ironclad federal statutory protection for IVF. Our bill does not engage in backdoor politics. It does not infringe on the deeply held beliefs of individuals or organizations. It simply does what needs to be done, safeguarding the right of couples to grow their family if they choose to use IVF because this should not be a political issue – instead, it's a deeply human issue.”

BACKGROUND

Sen. Cruz worked with Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) to introduce the IVF Protection Act. Under the language of this bill, states would be ineligible to receive Medicaid funding if they have enacted an outright ban on access to IVF. Using this common funding requirement, the bill would protect IVF access nationwide without infringing on religious liberties or overruling appropriate state health and safety standards for IVF.

Read the full text of the bill here.

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