Republicans on Tuesday blocked consideration of a Democratic-backed in vitro fertilization (IVF) bill that already died in the Senate.
The bill failed to garner the 60 votes needed in a procedural vote and failed 51-44.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced in a letter to senators on Sunday that he was scheduling additional votes on the bill.
“As the national debate over reproductive rights continues, a Republican presidential candidate has called himself a 'fertility leader' and voiced his support for expanding access to IVF by requiring insurance companies to cover the treatment — a key provision included in the IVF Rights Act,” Schumer wrote.
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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said a vote on a previously blocked in vitro fertilization bill is scheduled for Tuesday. (Reuters)
“So we're going to give our Republican colleagues another opportunity to show the American people where they stand.”
Schumer's decision to send the bill back to the full Senate comes after former President Donald Trump touted his support for IVF and vowed to require insurance companies to cover the costs of the procedure.
“Today, I am making an important statement: Under a Trump Administration, the government will pay, or insurance companies will be required to pay, all costs associated with IVF treatment,” Trump said at an event in Michigan last month, “because, to put it mildly, we want more babies.”
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Trump has declared himself a leader in IVF. (AP/Jay C. Hong)
An IVF bill introduced by Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) would provide that “any health insurance issuer offering a group health insurance plan, or group or individual health insurance, must cover infertility treatments if the plan or insurance also covers obstetric services.”
Because obstetric care is considered routinely covered by insurance, the policy would apply to nearly all insurers.
Nearly all Senate Republicans rejected the bill in June on a key procedural vote, preventing it from getting the 60 votes needed to pass the bill.
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Duckworth spearheaded the Democratic-backed IVF bill. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Republican Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Katie Britt (R-Ala.) introduced their own IVF bill later in the summer, which they say would allow for common-sense regulation of IVF without banning it. The bill was blocked from a vote after Senator Cruz asked for unanimous consent to take up the bill, and a standard vote by Senator Schumer is not scheduled.
At the time, Cruz and Britt led a statement signed by the entire Republican Conference reiterating their support for IVF.
Ahead of Tuesday's floor vote, Cruz and Britt again called for a unanimous vote to move the bill forward, but their request was defeated.
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) also led a bill this summer to boost IVF, which passed both chambers of Congress and was introduced in the House by Rep. Kat Cammack (R-Fla.), who would separate Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) from health insurance plans and increase contribution limits for families to help pay for IVF and other costs.
Florida's senator similarly brought the bill to a vote Monday night, seeking unanimous consent, with Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon opposed.
Asked by Fox News Digital ahead of the vote about his private conversations with Trump and whether he discussed the former president's IVF proposal, Scott said he wouldn't discuss it, but reiterated, “I'm very much a supporter of IVF and I'll wait and see what Schumer brings up.”
Asked about a provision requiring insurance companies to cover the cost of the surgery, he said he would look at what was in the bill.
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A microscope view of the freezing solution during embryo preparation in the IVF lab at Brigham and Women's Hospital. (David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Senate Minority Whip John Thune, a CPA who is running for Republican Senate Majority Leader in November, said he has not discussed the IVF proposal with Trump, but that some of his colleagues may have.
“Obviously, it's an idea that's been discussed, but if that's the direction that Schumer decides to go, we'll address it if it comes to that,” he told Fox News Digital after Schumer announced his planned vote.
Asked about mandating private insurance coverage for procedures that are not traditionally a conservative position, Thune said, “That's something we have to discuss.”
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“Obviously, this is something that our candidates have voiced their support for, but there are a lot of regulations being imposed on insurance companies that are driving up rates,” he explained.
“All Republicans are in favor of IVF. I don't know any Republicans who aren't in favor of it,” he said. “The question of whether insurance should cover IVF is another issue we need to talk about.”
