A bill that would have established a national “right” to in vitro fertilization was rejected in a vote from the US Senate, on September 17. The bill, referred to as the “Right to IVF” bill, was introduced by Democrat Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, and was largely blocked by Republican senators at a vote of 51-44. It needed 60 votes to pass.
According to NPR, the bill would have established a “statutory right” to IVF treatments that would be enforceable by the Justice Department. It would have required insurers both private and public to cover IVF counseling and treatment.
The report indicated that one of the reasons the bill did not pass was due to Republican Senators’ concerns that the bill did not recognize the humanity of the fertilized egg. Senator Duckworth told NPR:
"You can’t support a fertilized egg being a human being — this personhood stuff which Rick Scott has said he supported — and also say you support IVF. The two are contradictory."
Senator Rick Scott did support the notion of protections to IVF treatments, noting that his own daughter is currently undergoing the treatment. He did not feel, however, that the Democrats' bill was written in a way that would garner bipartisan support. He suggested that Republicans may support such a bill if it was worked out by both parties together:
"They need to sit down with us and try to come up with a bill that will pass," Scott said.
The humanity of the fertilized egg is one of the factors that has led the Catholic Church to take a stance against IVF. According to OSV News, the USCCB released a letter prior to the vote in which they reiterated their rejection of IVF and other assisted reproductive technologies on the grounds that they “cause the death of countless human embryos and violate human dignity."
The Bishops wrote:
"The need to accompany and support the increasing number of families struggling with infertility is real, but members of Congress -- including many who consider themselves pro-life -- are in a rush to promote access to a new national 'right' to in vitro fertilization (IVF) and other such technologies that destroy preborn human lives and treat people like property (like surrogacy, gene editing, and cloning). Some of the current proposals would also threaten Catholic hospitals, charities, schools, and other organizations and people that do not enable or cover these medical procedures."
Read more from the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops on reproductive technologies in their 1998 missive “Begotten Not Made.”
