The move, which is expected to happen Tuesday, comes after former President Trump’s call for insurance companies to cover such treatments divided his supporters.
Democrats want to drive a wedge between Republicans and put them on the record opposing those efforts, especially as the GOP struggles with how to message its stance on reproductive rights in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
Democrats have felt the wind at their back on the subject for months, and Trump’s call is prompting a second vote on the same bill in a matter of months.
“As you probably noted, abortion and choice were leadoff topics in the debate, and former President Trump went to great lengths to assert himself as a champion of IVF, which came as a surprise to many people,” Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said. “I think it’s important to give a record vote on the issue. This is going to be a major issue in the campaign.”
Trump and Republicans for months have tried to rebuff the Democratic narrative that the GOP doesn’t support IVF. They are also quick to note that the trigger for the nationwide IVF discussion was a court in Alabama — not any GOP-led legislature — and that the state’s Republican-led Legislature almost was quick to pass a legislative fix.
Since the court ruling in February, Republicans have loudly spoken up to say they fully support IVF. But they have also largely avoided the question at the heart of the issue: If they believe life begins at conception, how should clinics handle viable embryos that are not implanted?
Only two Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) — voted with Democrats in June when Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s (D-Ill.) proposal came to the floor, and senators are widely expecting a similar outcome.
