Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Katie Britt (R-AL) are unveiling legislation Monday that would ensure in vitro fertilization access is "legally protected nationwide" by making the practice a condition for states to receive federal Medicaid funding.
If state legislatures or courts moved to ban IVF, those states would be ineligible to receive Medicaid funding under the bill. The legislation from Cruz and Britt comes as Republicans have tried to distance themselves from a recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling that created a political headache for Republicans that risks alienating swing voters ahead of the November election and in the aftermath of the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
The legislation does not prevent states from setting up "health and safety standards to govern IVF," but the senators say that by placing funding conditions on the practice, it simply "ensures that access to IVF is fully protected by federal law."
"While the Alabama Legislature after the court’s decision promptly reiterated that IVF is protected, federal legislation would eliminate any ambiguity that might arise from future state-level judicial interpretations," the senators wrote in a Sunday op-ed to the Wall Street Journal. "Our goal is to make sure that any family’s path to bringing a child into the world isn’t compromised by preventable legal confusion."
In February, Alabama's top court ruled that frozen embryos are legally children and that the destruction of embryos constitutes a crime under the state’s “wrongful death of a minor” law.
Many GOP lawmakers came out against the Alabama ruling in the week following the court's decision. Kellyanne Conway, a onetime adviser to former President Donald Trump, traveled to Capitol Hill in December and shared polling that 86% of voters support IVF , including those who regard themselves as “pro-life” and evangelicals, at 78% and 83%, respectively.
A Cruz aide told reporters ahead of the op-ed's release that a motivator of the bill stems from the "fear-mongering tactic" Democrats are using to paint Republicans as anti-IVF.
"I think the bigger thing here as we see Democrats across the country making this an election issue, [Cruz] is hoping, with Katie Britt, to take that off the table," a Cruz aide told reporters.
"The goal of this bill is to sort of lay that hypocrisy bare and, you know, force Democrats to take a vote on it," the aide said.
The Republicans' bill is separate from a bill introduced by Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), which was introduced in January and would protect IVF access. Many Republicans have pushed back against Duckworth's bill, arguing its broad language could allow a backdoor into possible abortion protections.
In a letter to Republicans sent shortly after the Alabama ruling, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops wrote to GOP senators arguing against Duckworth's Access to Family Building Act, calling federal protection of IVF a "threat to the most vulnerable of human beings."
"Contrary to what some have claimed, a position that supports legal enshrinement of IVF, however well-intended, is neither pro-life nor pro-child," the bishops wrote. "Approaches such as investing in life affirming research on infertility, or strengthening support for couples who desire to adopt, would be better to explore."
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"Among those to whom we and our parishes minister, we know well the deep yearning and even suffering of families struggling with infertility. We seek to ameliorate that personal suffering," the bishops said. "Yet we cannot condone a practice and an industry that is built on millions of children who are created to be destroyed or abandoned."
The Washington Examiner reached out to Duckworth and Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America for comment.
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