Duckworth to demand vote on IVF bill

The bill would establish federal protections that override any state policy restricting IVF access.

Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) will hold a press conference Tuesday morning demanding a vote on their bill to federally protect in-vitro fertilization and other fertility treatments — arguing that it’s newly urgent in light of the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos should be protected as people.

“The ruling from the Alabama Supreme Court — effectively labeling women who undergo IVF as criminals and our doctors as killers — proves that we were right to be worried,” Duckworth said in a statement ahead of the event. “No one looking to start or grow their family, in any state, deserves to be criminalized.”

Duckworth and Murray’s bill, first introduced in 2022 and reintroduced last month with a House companion led by Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.), would establish federal protections that override any state policy restricting IVF access. When Duckworth, who had two daughters through IVF, attempted to call up the bill in 2022, Republicans objected without explanation and scuttled the vote.

Some Republicans indicated they might be more open to it this time around. “I didn’t think it was needed until now. But we may need to take a look,” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said Monday night, adding: “I would have several fewer grandkids if we didn’t have IVF.”

Other Republicans insisted no action is needed. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said the problem would be “taken care of in Alabama” — referencing state lawmakers’ scramble to undo or mitigate the decision’s impact and restore IVF access to Alabamaians. He added that he was “not at all” worried about other states following suit despite GOP officials in several states expressing a desire to explore their own restrictions.

In a floor speech Monday night, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer argued that Republicans laid the groundwork for the Alabama ruling by working to overturn Roe v. Wade and will suffer electorally as a result.

“Republicans own what happened in Alabama,” he said. “And Republicans will learn when it comes to attacks on their personal freedom, the American people do not easily forget.”

He didn’t, however, say whether he plans to hold a vote on IVF, and his office did not respond to questions.