Cruz Calls on Senate to Pass GOP IVF Bill; Murray Blocks It

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Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on Tuesday asked the Senate to pass via unanimous consent the in vitro fertilization [IVF] bill he recently introduced with Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala. His push came right before the Senate voted to block a similar Democrat-led bill on IVF.

Cruz introduced the IVF Protection Bill earlier this year. On Tuesday he said, “if the Democrats wanted to protect IVF, this bill would pass 100 to nothing right now.” He added, “What the ‘show’ vote this afternoon is about, is Democrats want to spend hundreds of millions of dollars running TV ads in an election season falsely claiming that Republicans oppose IVF.”

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., a key sponsor of the Democrats’ bill, objected to Cruz’s request, saying the GOP bill “does nothing to meaningfully protect IVF from the biggest threats from lawmakers and anti-abortion extremists all over this country.”

Cruz said Democrats are objecting because they want to use the topic as a campaign issue. Cruz said, “we are 49 days away from election day. And they intend to try to scare voters in elections across the country by misleading the voters.”

Meanwhile, the Senate voted again Tuesday to block the Democrat-led bill, which it also rejected back in June. Republicans have criticized the measure as a political show vote and unnecessary overreach. While the bills are similar, the Republican version would bar states from receiving Medicaid funding if they ban IVF, but doesn’t guarantee a right to IVF services.