Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and CNN host Kaitlan Collins got into a tense debate about fertility treatments on Tuesday night, but Republican lawmakers forcibly blocked the host from speaking.
“No, Kaitlan, you can't stop me there,” the Alabama senator told Collins, who accused him of misrepresenting his position on IVF.
Collins invited Cotton onto her primetime news show, “The Source,” to discuss Senate Republican efforts to block a Democratic bill that would enshrine IVF rights in federal law.
Despite former President Donald Trump voicing support for free IVF treatment, the bill failed to get the 60 votes needed to move forward, with 44 Republican senators voting against it.
“Senate Republicans today blocked a bill that would guarantee access to something many of them say they support,” Collins said at the start of the show. Her comments were The news site Mediaite reported this.
“This is the same thing Donald Trump has said he would support. Democrats have tried again and failed to pass this bill that would guarantee access to IVF across the country. And tonight, Democrats are using this vote to attack Republicans who opposed it.”
Collins then introduced Cotton, who quickly denied making the comments.
“First of all, Kaitlan, I have to correct almost everything you said in your opening remarks. Almost nothing about this bill was accurate,” the Alabama senator said.
“First, there are no risks to IVF in this country. All 49 Republican senators join President Trump in supporting IVF. No state restricts or bans IVF.”
Collins responded: “I don't say that in the intro, but come on, go ahead.”
Cotton fired back, accusing Collins of failing to mention other aspects of the bill.
“access [to IVF] “It's now guaranteed in all 50 states,” Cotton told Collins. “You also mentioned IVF. It's more than IVF.”
Cotton added that the bill “would mandate insurance coverage for experimental and controversial procedures like cloning or gene editing or sterilization for men who identify as women, whatever that means.”
“It would also put religious freedom at risk.”
Cotton then accused Democrats of trying to force Christian hospitals to perform fertility treatments that go against their faith.
“All right, Senator, let's stop there,” Collins said, to which Cotton responded, “No, Kaitlan, you can't stop there! Because you've misrepresented what this bill is about.”
Cotton went on to criticize other aspects of the bill.
“Just to be clear, I am not misrepresenting this bill,” Collins said afterward.
“You can say you don't like it, you can say you think it's a sham vote, you can talk about those aspects, but this was something that was put forward there, and it was about ensuring access to IVF,” the CNN host said.
