(PatriotWise.com) — Republican Senators Ted Cruz and Katie Britt on Monday introduced legislation to protect in vitro fertilization after a bill sponsored by Illinois Democrat Tammy Duckworth failed to pass the Senate earlier this year.
The IVF Protection Act, introduced by the two Republican senators, would prevent states from receiving Medicaid funding if they banned in vitro fertilization.
The legislation defines in vitro fertilization as eggs “collected from ovaries and manually fertilized by sperm” before being placed in a uterus.
Senator Cruz said in a May 20 statement that the procedure gave “miraculous hope to millions of Americans” by giving them “the gift of children.”
The legislation would not compel any medical provider to offer IVF, nor would it prevent individual states from implementing health and safety requirements for the IVF industry.
Senator Britt said the IVF Protection Act would affirm “life and liberty” while supporting “family and freedom.”
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have sought to provide protections to IVF providers after the Alabama Supreme Court’s February ruling in a wrongful death claim sent panicked shockwaves through the industry and raised concerns about states barring in vitro fertilization.
The Alabama high court ruled that a couple whose fertilized embryos were destroyed in an accident could sue the provider for wrongful death. In its decision, the court found that the embryos were children and thus granted protections under the state Constitution.
Some panicked IVF clinics in the state paused services in response to the ruling, prompting the Alabama legislature to swiftly pass legislation protecting IVF providers from liability.
Senator Duckworth pushed to get her Access to Family Building Act passed through unanimous consent after the Alabama high court’s decision. However, the unanimous consent was blocked by Mississippi Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, who said the bill was a “vast overreach.”
In an interview on Monday, Senator Cruz echoed Hyde-Smith’s complaint and said Duckworth’s bill was opposed by Republicans as being a “back door” into “broader abortion legislation.”
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