[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 36 (Wednesday, February 28, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1033-S1036]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                   Unanimous Consent Request--S. 3612

  Madam President, as in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent 
that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be 
discharged from further consideration of S. 3612 and the Senate proceed 
to its immediate consideration; further, that the bill be considered 
read a third time and passed, and the motion to reconsider be 
considered made and laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mrs. HYDE-SMITH. Reserving the right to object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Mississippi.
  Mrs. HYDE-SMITH. Madam President, I support the ability for mothers 
and fathers to have total access to IVF in bringing new life into the 
world. I also believe human life should be protected. These are not 
mutually exclusive.
  Let's be clear about what the Alabama case is about. This was a case 
brought by families whose human embryos were killed when an 
unauthorized individual walked into the fertility clinic through an 
unsecured door, removed several human embryos, and dropped them, 
causing their deaths.
  The court's holding in favor of the parents found that these frozen 
human embryos are children under Alabama law. It did not ban IVF, nor 
has any State banned IVF.
  The bill before us today is a vast overreach that is full of poison 
pills that go way too far--far beyond ensuring legal access to IVF. The 
act explicitly waives the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and would 
subject religious and pro-life organizations to crippling lawsuits.
  Religious and pro-life organizations could be forced to facilitate 
procedures that violate their core beliefs, including their health 
insurance plans. This would be the first time the bipartisan Religious 
Freedom Restoration Act introduced by then-Representative Chuck Schumer 
was explicitly waived.
  The bill's expansion definition of ``artificial reproductive 
technology'' sweeps in much more than IVF and has far-reaching 
implications. It would legalize human cloning. It would legalize 
commercial surrogacy, including for young girls without parental 
involvement. It would legalize gene-edited designer babies and lift the 
Federal ban on the creation of three-parent embryos. It would legalize 
the creation of human-animal chimeras. Other developed countries like 
Germany, New Zealand, and Australia, as well as States like Louisiana, 
have policies that allow for IVF coupled with commonsense protections 
to respect human life.
  Creating rights to human cloning, the genetic engineering of human 
embryos, and surrogacy is too extreme and goes far beyond IVF. This 
bill misses the mark.
  We should strive to do both, and this bill does not do that. 
Therefore, I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The objection is heard.
  The Senator from Illinois.
  Ms. DUCKWORTH. Madam President, I have the greatest respect and 
admiration for my friend from Mississippi, but I have to say that I 
disagree with her interpretation of my piece of legislation.
  This bill does three things and three things only: It protects the 
right of individuals to seek assistive reproductive technology without 
fear of being prosecuted for seeking that technology. It preserves the 
right of physicians to provide that assistive reproductive technology 
without fear of being prosecuted, and it also allows insurance 
companies to cover assistive reproductive technology.
  That is all that it does. It does not force anyone to seek 
reproductive technology; it does not force anyone to offer it; it does 
not force anyone to cover it. It simply says you have a statutory 
right, should you choose to pursue assistive reproductive technology 
that you will be able to do so.
  I also want to note that in Louisiana there is already State law that 
prohibits the ``discardation'' of frozen embryos or of frozen 
fertilized eggs.
  This has already started. In Florida, there is a bill pending before 
the State legislature that would deem that a fertilized egg is a human 
being and provide the opportunity for penalties to be put into 
judgments for those who would discard those fertilized eggs. So this is 
a real threat today.
  With that, I would like to yield to my colleague from Nevada.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.
  Ms. CORTEZ MASTO. Madam President, first of all, I want to start off 
by thanking my colleague Senator Duckworth for not only sharing her 
story of her wonderful family and beautiful two daughters--I have seen 
myself what an incredible mother they have, and they are fantastic 
girls. I also have to thank her for bringing forward this important 
legislation.
  Women across the country use IVF to start their own families. You are 
hearing that not only from Senator Duckworth. I have heard it from so 
many people in Nevada and really across the country. They make that 
choice in consultation with their partners, their families, and their 
doctors, not a government official--not a government official.
  There is no logical reason to deny women that right, and yet, after 
Roe v. Wade fell, we could see from a mile away that IVF was in danger. 
Senator Duckworth was one of the first to come forward in recognizing 
that, and that is why her legislation is so important. Why? Because 
attacking IVF was yet another chance for anti-choice Republicans to 
erode women's rights in this country.
  They have introduced a Federal abortion ban that would supersede 
State laws. They have stacked the courts with anti-choice judges. They 
have limited funding to women's healthcare,

[[Page S1034]]

and they have repeatedly ignored the very science behind reproductive 
healthcare in order to push their agenda.
  We knew this was coming. In fact, we tried to do something about it a 
year ago. After Roe was overturned, not only did Senator Duckworth come 
to the floor with her legislation, but we have introduced numerous 
legislation on this floor to protect women's rights. And every single 
time, unfortunately, one of our Republican colleagues comes forward to 
object, without any explanation, but continuing to really erode women's 
rights in this country.
  And I have to say, these extreme GOP colleagues of ours claim to be 
pro-life. They claim to champion family planning. But, really, when it 
comes down to it, they don't support it. You just have to be in our 
communities and listen to the women and their families, and you 
understand that.
  The difference this time around is that the Alabama Supreme Court is 
actually calling their bluff. The threat to IVF is no longer this 
hypothetical. In response to the ruling--and I believe it is an extreme 
ruling from this judge. But in response to this ruling, clinics--some 
clinics in Alabama--have halted IVF procedures. They have halted them.
  I have seen heartbreaking stories of Alabama families who are being 
forced to put their dreams of starting a family on hold, and I am here 
to tell you: It will not stop with Alabama. The consequences of this 
ruling are that not only will it close some of those clinics in Alabama 
that we have heard about, but it will have a chilling impact 
nationally.
  It is one thing to have the legislation that bans it outright, but 
the chilling impact is another barrier. And you don't have to be from a 
State like Nevada. It is a pro-choice State. Listen, if you are 
threatening women, if you are threatening their families, if you are 
threatening doctors who want to help these women, that has a chilling 
effect even in Nevada--even in Nevada.
  These extreme GOP politicians are seeing this, quite frankly, and I 
am watching them, and they are suddenly stuck. They have to decide 
whether to agree with this judge's anti-choice decision or to concede 
that women should be allowed this basic right to choose if, when, and 
how to become a parent. Suddenly, they have to decide just how far they 
are willing to go in their crusade to control women.
  Having a child through IVF is a wonderful thing. It is not a crime, 
and it should not be punished. Our anti-choice Republican colleagues, 
they know this. Yet they have once again refused to do the right thing 
for American families by supporting protections for accessing IVF.
  And let me just finally say that their hypocrisy is on full display, 
and America is watching. You don't have to believe me. Just listen to 
the American public. Across this country, a majority--a majority--and I 
don't care if it is women I hear from. It is their loved ones. It is 
men. I don't care what party you are. I don't care if you are Democrat, 
Republican, nonpartisan. A majority of Americans want women to have 
this right to choose. They want them to have this ability. They believe 
in having families. They believe in IVF. They believe in women's 
reproductive rights.
  And, most importantly, what some of our Republican colleagues are 
doing is inhibiting and limiting women's access to 21st century 
healthcare. That is what this is about. Why should we deny women the 
right to access 21st century healthcare if it is going to save their 
lives, if it is going to help them have families? What is wrong with 
that at the end of the day?
  So I have to thank Senator Duckworth. And it is unfortunate that we 
had an objection to her legislation that is so needed, unfortunately, 
in this day and age, but it is. That is where we are today: fighting 
for women's rights, fighting across this country.
  And, finally, my only other question to my colleagues is: I trust 
women to make this decision. Why don't they?
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, thank you to my colleagues from 
Illinois, from Nevada, and other Senators who are out here to fight for 
the right for women to have basic healthcare services in this country.
  You know, I have said before that Republican attacks on reproductive 
freedom would never stop with Roe. They would never stop with abortion. 
I have said before that IVF was at risk, and now it has been so 
heartbreaking to see that warning become a gut-wrenching reality for 
women in Alabama.
  And it is absolutely infuriating to see some of the same Republicans 
who support so-called fetal personhood bills, who want to codify the 
very ideology in the Alabama Supreme Court decision that ripped away 
access to IVF care, suddenly acting surprised, suddenly acting like 
they had no idea this would happen, suddenly acting like this was 
totally unforeseen, when it is exactly what we have been warning about 
and exactly what the far right has been working toward for decades. 
This isn't some surprise. The Alabama Supreme Court decision is 
Republican ideology in action.
  So spare me the empty statements, especially after the objection that 
we just saw here. Unless you are actually going to work with us to 
protect IVF, save your breath. There are women in Alabama who 
desperately want to start a family, women who have tried for years to 
get pregnant, women who have gone through the heartbreak of 
miscarriage, women who are battling cancer and other devastating 
diagnoses for whom IVF is the only way they will be able to have 
children. And now, after everything they have been through--the hope, 
the disappointment, the thousands--the even tens of thousands of 
dollars it can cost to pursue IVF--after all that, these women have had 
their dreams shattered because Republicans believe a frozen embryo kept 
in storage at an IVF clinic is the same and should have the exact same 
rights as a living, breathing human person.
  That is not hyperbole. That is not hypothetical. That is what is 
happening. You don't have to imagine how painful this is. You just have 
to listen to the women in Alabama who have had their worlds turned 
upside down now by this decision.
  Meghan Cole has a rare blood disease that prevents her from carrying 
children. Her hopes of starting a family through IVF and a surrogate 
were dashed last week when her doctor called to cancel her Friday 
appointment. She asked about transferring the embryos out of the State. 
Even that door has been slammed shut to her.
  Jasmine York turned to IVF after previous ectopic pregnancies left 
her with no other options to have a baby. Now Alabama has left her with 
no options at all. As she said, ``It's completely just derailed a lot 
of hope.''
  Kayla Lee spent 9 years and $80,000 trying to have a child. She has 
gone through several miscarriages, and she was days away--days away--
from getting a viable embryo transferred. But instead of getting that 
embryo transplanted, she got the same heartbreaking phone call. Her 
hopes of a family were being put on hold. Years of trying, tens of 
thousands of dollars, and, at the last moment, Republicans pulled the 
rug out from under her.
  Even families who already have gone through IVF are facing the 
fallout. Can they afford to pay and store unused embryos indefinitely? 
Can they be prosecuted if they don't? They don't know. Right now, no 
one knows.
  The anger, the anguish, the stories of these women are heartbreaking.
  As IVF patient Kelly Belmont put it, ``We've already invested so much 
time and money and just physical and emotional anguish into this 
process, and to think that it could have all been for nothing and that 
we could be ending our journey to be able to have children--it's 
absolutely terrifying. I am just trying to hold myself together 
emotionally.''
  So powerful. I don't know how anyone can listen to these stories and 
still think politicians should be making women's healthcare decisions 
for them. I really don't.
  Now, I said earlier that Republicans are acting surprised now by the 
result of the very policies they have pushed for. They can save their 
breath. That is because actions speak louder than words, and many of 
the same Republicans saying they care now about IVF are literally right 
now cosponsors of legislation that would enshrine fetal personhood into 
law and make IVF unavailable nationwide.

[[Page S1035]]

  You cannot support IVF and support fetal personhood laws. They are 
fundamentally incompatible.
  Instead of empty words, Democrats want to see action, and that is why 
we just tried to pass the Access to Family Building Act. It doesn't get 
any more straightforward than that, and yet, just now, Republicans 
blocked the bill and showed their true colors when it comes to IVF.
  I am frustrated, but I am not done fighting because I know Americans 
are watching, and they will not forget who is standing with families in 
Alabama and across the country and who is standing in their way.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Connecticut.
  Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Madam President, as part of what we are doing here 
today, I ask unanimous consent that the following Senators be permitted 
to speak for up to 5 minutes each prior to the scheduled votes: myself, 
Senator Kaine, Senator Warren, and Senator Wyden.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Madam President, I have been really awed and humbled 
by the eloquence of the women Senators who have preceded me, and I 
hesitate to add to what they have stated so powerfully already. But, of 
course, I am a man, and this bill is about women's reproductive care 
and women's rights, but it is also about the rights of all of us. The 
name of the act is the Access to Family Building Act. It is about 
families. It is about men, like myself, whose most awesome moment in 
life was the time they held their newly born child.
  Men have an equal stake in the issue that brings us here today. Men 
should be as scared and angry as women are about this trend, which is 
so destructive to basic rights and liberties. Women's rights are human 
rights. The rights at stake here are rights that are American. What 
could be more American than wanting to bring a child into the world?
  And what could be more heartbreaking? We have all been through it, 
through friends, neighbors, maybe our own family. A man and woman in 
love, wanting to have a child, miscarriages, other obstacles that 
prevent it, and there is a hole in their hearts, a hole in their homes 
and their families, as they struggle with issues of fertility and 
childbirth. This measure very simply guarantees the right for women and 
families everywhere--in Alabama, in Connecticut, in every State in this 
country--to access the fertility care they need to bring children into 
the world.

  You know, over 3 years ago, before Dobbs was decided--and we never 
could have imagined that Roe v. Wade would be overturned--and the 
Republican Party eviscerated access to abortion care, I posed what I 
thought was a really easy question to a Supreme Court nominee, Amy 
Coney Barrett. I asked: Is it constitutional to criminalize IVF 
treatment? She dodged. She dodged. She refused to answer. I thought it 
was self-evident. It is not constitutional to criminalize IVF 
treatment. That was before Dobbs. That was before the legal landscape 
was volcanically uprooted by this Supreme Court, which has been 
captured by a far-right fringe.
  Some may have wondered why at that time I asked what seemed like a 
very far-fetched, obtuse, arcane question. A lot of people probably 
didn't even know what it meant, and they may have also wondered why 
Justice Barrett refused to answer such an obvious question with such a 
self-evident answer. Wasn't it settled that IVF treatment is not only 
legally protected but also a scientific miracle? Think of it for a 
moment, the science here that is now accessible to every American, 
everyone in the world. Wasn't IVF pro-family, having children, parents 
who wanted a child? And they may have wondered as well, wasn't IVF the 
last, best hope for so many people struggling with infertility, 
desperately seeking to experience the miracle of childbirth for 
themselves? Who could possibly object to that miracle in the lives of a 
family who would not only relish but raise a child to contribute to our 
great country?
  What has become devastatingly and tragically clear is that the 
Republican Party's animosity toward women's health and women's rights 
doesn't stop at abortion. It is why I asked that IVF question in 2020, 
and it is why I didn't get a clear answer from a Republican nominee for 
the Supreme Court. The war on women and on reproductive choices by 
women and the war on families hasn't stopped at abortion or even IVF.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Cortez Masto). Senator, your time is up.
  Mr. BLUMENTHAL. So I conclude by thanking my colleagues who have 
brought this measure to the floor, particularly Senator Duckworth, and 
I regret that Republicans have blocked this measure.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia.
  Mr. KAINE. Madam President, the first child born in vitro in the 
United States was Elizabeth Carr, and she was born in Norfolk, VA, in 
1981. Elizabeth's parents were Massachusetts residents. They struggled 
with infertility, and their dream was to have a child. Yet it was not 
to be--until they heard about a husband-and-wife team, Howard and 
Georgeanna Jones, who had been reproductive physicians at Johns Hopkins 
and then went to England to train with the early pioneer of in vitro 
fertilization, and they came back to the United States wanting to open 
a clinic to help couples deal with fertility issues. It must have been 
a hard road for them to find a place that said yes because this seemed 
like science fiction at the time, but the Eastern Virginia Medical 
School in Norfolk said: Open a fertility clinic here.
  I was 23 years old then, and in my memory, there was something about 
it on the cover of Newsweek. I have gone back and realized, no, it was 
Life magazine. Because it seemed like science fiction. The science is 
so hard to even wrap your head around, and yet the Carrs read about 
this, and they started to travel--they were not people with much 
money--they started to travel to Norfolk and became patients of the two 
doctors, and their daughter Elizabeth was born in Virginia in 1981. She 
is 42 years old today. She is raising her own family today.
  Elizabeth has been followed--wrap your head around this: What seemed 
like unimaginable science fiction in 1981, there are now, by best 
estimates, 12 million people walking this planet who were born by IVF, 
living their lives, being happy, raising families, contributing to 
their communities--12 million people. What could be more pro-life than 
in vitro fertilization? Twelve million people.
  Elizabeth was interviewed 2 days ago by WBUR, a public radio and 
television station in Boston. Here is what she said. She talked about 
her life and what she is doing, and then she said this, very 
chillingly: ``For the first time in my life, I feel like an endangered 
species.''
  ``I feel like an endangered species.''
  I think many of us believed that the Dobbs decision--and we made 
predictions about it--was not fundamentally about pro-life; it was 
about control. It was about control of women's decisions with respect 
to abortion, with respect to contraception, and now with respect to 
deciding: If there is a path out of infertility, I can have a child. 
They want to control that too. That is what the Alabama Supreme Court 
has done, and that is what Dobbs was about, and that is why I am proud 
to sign on to the bill led by Senator Duckworth, the Access to Family 
Building Act. It is as simple a bill as can be. Healthcare providers 
have a right to provide fertility treatment, including in vitro 
services. Patients have a right to access fertility treatment, 
including in vitro fertilization services.
  This is not a mandate. The enforcement provisions are provisions that 
allow a person or a healthcare provider to bring action against the 
State or governmental entity that tries to interfere with the right 
that they have. No State should interfere with this right--none.
  This is a very simple bill that would enable the Elizabeth Carrs of 
the world to continue to be born and to continue to live happy and 
productive lives. I am so glad to be a cosponsor.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts.
  Ms. WARREN. Madam President, just now, my friend and colleague 
Senator Tammy Duckworth, a longtime champion for IVF and a longtime 
champion for families, put forward an important bill that would ensure 
that families

[[Page S1036]]

have access to the services they need to have a baby, including IVF.
  Since then, Republicans have blocked this bill to protect IVF. Now, 
remember that for all their talk about supporting IVF, when it came 
down to it right here in this Chamber, Republicans blocked IVF 
protection.
  Republican opposition to IVF is terrifying. It makes me furious. But 
it should not surprise anyone. Donald Trump set the stage for the 
attacks on reproductive rights when he stacked the Supreme Court with 
ultraconservative Justices and overturned Roe v. Wade. Since then, 
Republicans have banned or severely restricted abortion in 24 States. 
They are trying to ban medication abortion nationwide. Now in Alabama, 
these extremists have virtually outlawed IVF, fertility care that gives 
people a chance to start a family.
  This has always been about conservative politicians controlling 
women's bodies. This has been Donald Trump and the Republicans' plan 
all along. And the opposition to Senator Duckworth's proposal today 
shows that Republicans are doubling down against reproductive freedom. 
They are coming for medication abortion, they are coming for birth 
control, and they are even coming for prenatal care. Make no mistake--
we will fight them every step of the way.
  I want to talk for just a minute about the people who are affected by 
these extremist policies: families in Alabama who have been wanting and 
praying that IVF can help them have a baby; women who have injected 
themselves with medication for weeks or months or even years; people 
who have spent their entire life savings trying to start a family, only 
now to see their hopes go down the drain; LGBTQ families who have spent 
years taking on every obstacle just for the chance to have a baby of 
their own, and for some, this was the last chance.
  Now Republicans like Donald Trump and those in this Chamber might try 
to backtrack, might try to say that they are working to protect IVF, 
but it is all talk. Senate Republicans' actions today speak louder than 
any empty promises they make. Americans can tell when Republican 
politicians try to talk out of both sides of their mouths.
  The American people want reproductive freedom. The American people 
support parents and those desperately trying to become parents.
  So here is what comes next. Democrats have made clear that we stand 
with President Biden, with Vice President Harris, and with the millions 
of families affected by these heartless policies. We stand to protect 
reproductive rights for people all across this country. Together, we 
will fight for every person to have access to a safe abortion. We will 
fight for every family to have access to the services needed to have a 
baby. And we won't stop fighting until we secure the Congress that we 
need to protect reproductive freedom for everyone in this country.
  I am proud to be a cosponsor of Senator Duckworth's bill, and 
together we are going to get this done.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.
  Mr. WYDEN. Madam President, I want to say to my colleague from 
Illinois that I am so proud to be a supporter of your legislation that 
is going to provide the necessary protections for women in America to 
become mothers.
  I think I mentioned this to my colleague at lunch a couple of days 
ago. Thirty years ago, Madame President, I wrote the Fertility Clinic 
Success Rate and Certification Act into law, and I would just say to my 
colleague, back then, we never thought--never thought--we would have to 
be standing today on the floor of the United States Senate debating 
this, as we are today. But we are here because a few days ago, 
Alabama's far-right Supreme Court handed down a first-of-its-kind 
ruling effectively making IVF impossible in Alabama.
  We are seeing heartbreaking headlines about couples in that State 
being forced to rethink their plans to start a family through the IVF 
process that was just in effect 30 years ago. Some of these families 
have already spent tens of thousands of dollars and have undergone 
extensive medical treatment. Alabama's largest hospital system, the 
University of Alabama, has already paused its IVF services out of fear 
of prosecution.
  The decision to conceive a child through IVF is rarely ever a 
parent's first choice. It is physically and emotionally painful, taxing 
and tedious, and it is expensive. But for countless couples dreaming of 
just one thing--just one thing--the chance to start a family, the 
legislation that my colleagues have been working on is absolutely 
essential.
  The IVF journey, as we started talking about years ago, for so many 
parents is grueling, filled with countless doctor's appointments, 
agonizing waits for test results, and too often--too often--
disappointment. The process is very delicate. Embryos can expire at any 
time during the process entirely by accident.
  Under Alabama's new ruling, a doctor or a woman undergoing treatment 
could be charged with wrongful death if an embryo expires during the 
IVF transfer or implementation process. That means women who are 
already undergoing this incredibly painful process could also be handed 
a wrongful death lawsuit on top of everything else. That, in my view, 
Madame President and colleagues, is nothing short of criminalizing 
people who try to become parents.
  Unfortunately, while this ruling is a shocking one, it is not all 
that surprising if you have been paying attention to the ongoing war 
that the far right is waging on women and families in America. For 
years, Republicans laughed off the concerns about the vulnerability of 
abortion protections under Roe. Then they gutted it at the first 
opportunity.
  Since the Dobbs decision, these same Republicans have tried again to 
convince the American people that there is no threat of a national 
abortion law and no threat to any other facet of reproductive freedom, 
like contraception--in short, no domino effect. Instead, the repeal of 
Roe has laid the groundwork for an onslaught of court rulings just like 
this one in Alabama, which explicitly references the Dobbs case. The 
gaslighting would be laughable if it weren't so terrifying. We have all 
become familiar with the adage: When someone shows you who they are, 
believe them the first time.
  At every opportunity, Republicans have moved mountains in order to 
restrict the constitutional rights and freedoms of women, making it 
impossible for them to live their lives free from government intrusion. 
It is pretty clear to me they are not going to rest until there is a 
politician in every bedroom and exam room in America.
  In the wake of last week's ruling, I saw a lot of my Republican 
colleagues attempt to distance themselves from the decision, claiming 
that they unequivocally support IVF, but that is what they put in 
motion when they overturned Roe v. Wade. In fact, a year ago, Senate 
Democrats tried to pass Senator Duckworth's bill. Senate Republicans 
blocked it. So now it is clear. If colleagues really do support IVF, as 
so many were spending the whole weekend claiming, then they are in 
luck. They are in luck because Senator Duckworth is going to give them 
an opportunity to prove it by going on the record this evening and 
supporting this legislation.
  As I say to my friend from Illinois, I was thinking of you when 
coming over here today because back 30 years ago, nobody ever thought 
we would have to be out here just trying to get started in making sure 
families had information. But what you are doing is so incredibly 
important, Senator Duckworth, because with your legislation, in 
America, we will have the necessary protections for women to become 
mothers using IVF.
  I urge my colleagues to strongly support the Duckworth legislation.