[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 100 (Thursday, June 13, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4067-S4075]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                          LEGISLATIVE SESSION

                                 F_____
                                 

                  RIGHT TO IVF ACT--MOTION TO PROCEED

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
resume legislative session.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 413, S. 
4445.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 413, S. 4445, a bill to 
     protect and expand nationwide access to fertility treatment, 
     including in vitro fertilization.

  Mr. SCHUMER. I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.


                            Right to IVF Act

  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, last week, every Senator was put on the 
record as to whether they will defend the right to contraception, and 
despite Republicans' words about supporting birth control, their 
actions--voting against the Right to Contraception Act--spoke louder.
  Today we are putting Republicans on the record on another issue 
families across the country are deeply concerned about: the right to 
IVF.
  As we saw in Alabama, the threat to IVF is not hypothetical. It is 
not overblown, and it is not fearmongering. After the Alabama Supreme 
Court ruled that a frozen embryo is the same--has the exact same 
rights--as a living, breathing human person, women who waited for 
months and spent tens of thousands of dollars and were days away from 
an IVF appointment were left to wonder if it was all for nothing when 
their treatment was abruptly canceled.
  And families that had already gone through IVF were left to wonder if 
they could have their providers now dispose of unused embryos without 
facing legal threats.
  This happened. It was national news. It was complete chaos. So 
Republican efforts to dismiss this vote as fearmongering are simply not 
going to fly--especially when, right now, there are Republican bills, 
right now, that would enshrine as a matter of law that life begins at 
conception and that discarding unused embryos is, essentially, murder. 
That would essentially end IVF in our country.
  And this is not a fringe bill, either. It is supported by the 
majority of House Republicans, including the Speaker.
  Mr. President, I don't know how to make this any clearer to my 
Republican colleagues: You cannot support IVF and support fetal 
personhood laws. They are fundamentally incompatible.
  Democrats are not going to let Republicans off the hook for their 
support for fetal personhood. This is a dangerous and extreme ideology 
that the public must understand Republicans support wholeheartedly.
  We are also not going to let Republicans paper over their extremism 
with their so-called solution: a bill that is not only silent on 
ensuring embryos can be discarded but that explicitly allows States to 
put burdensome restrictions on IVF and create the kind of legal 
uncertainty that forced clinics in Alabama to close their doors.
  Mr. President, I do have good news for any of my Republican 
colleagues who do genuinely want to support IVF in a serious, 
meaningful way. We have a bill before us today that will do just that, 
and we are going to vote on it very shortly: the Right to IVF Act.
  I really want to thank Senator Duckworth and Senator Booker for 
working with me to put together a bill that would protect Americans 
from attempts to restrict IVF and help people get those vital services 
at a lower cost. The Right to IVF Act would establish a Federal right 
for patients to get IVF care and for doctors to provide it. It would 
ensure more health insurance plans cover IVF services, making care 
finally accessible to middle-class and lower income families who 
desperately need it.

  And this package includes my bill to help more veterans and 
servicemembers who have difficulty conceiving get the critical 
fertility services they need to start their families, including IVF. 
This is something I have long been pushing for, for years now, and it 
is long overdue. After all, these men and women fought to protect our 
families. We owe it to them to make sure they have the support when 
they come home to grow theirs.
  None of this should be controversial, especially if Republicans are 
serious about supporting IVF and preventing more chaos like we saw in 
Alabama.
  I will have more to say before the final vote, but the bottom line 
is: Americans saw earlier this year, with painful clarity, just how 
real the threat to IVF is, and they are going to see right now just who 
is serious about addressing that threat and protecting IVF access.
  With that, I will turn it over to my colleague from Michigan, who has 
been a champion on this issue.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan.
  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, first, I want to thank the senior 
Senator from Washington State, who is also the President pro tempore of 
the U.S. Senate, for her incredible leadership on all of the issues 
related to reproductive freedom.
  And I just want to start by saying that I cannot believe that we are 
in 2024--we are not in 1824; we are in 2024--and we have to stand on 
the floor of the U.S. Senate and say that we need to protect a woman's 
right to choose IVF as the process to start or grow her family or that 
we have to protect her ability to make decisions on birth control or on 
abortion services or any other reproductive issue--any other 
reproductive issue.
  This is not for people here to decide what every single woman--every 
person--involved in this should decide. It is not for politicians. It 
is not for judges. This is an individual freedom in America and needs 
to be protected, and that is what today is about as well.
  For those who want to have children but struggle with infertility, 
IVF is a path. It is a wonderful path--expensive path. It may take a 
lot of time, but it is an important path to grow a family.
  I have two senior members of my staff who have chosen IVF for 
different reasons. One of my staff has a beautiful little boy, Carter, 
who celebrated his first birthday not long ago. Amazing. And my other 
staff person is excitedly waiting with her wife for their new son to be 
born in September.
  Different paths, different choices. Their choice. Their choice. Not 
the choice of politicians. Not the choice of judges or anybody else. 
Their choice.
  And IVF has helped thousands of Americans have children, including 
Brittany from Holly, MI, who I know is with us today. After being 
diagnosed with PCOS at 16, she experienced fertility issues when she 
was ready to start a family. After 3 years, six rounds of fertility 
treatments, countless tests, and two rounds of IVF, she gave birth to 
her beautiful baby girl, Eloisa, who is now 8 months old--8 months old.
  Despite the strain this journey put on her relationships, Brittany 
told me that ``Every penny was worth it for our daughter.'' She said:

       Every penny was worth it for our daughter. IVF has made our 
     family complete.

  And she is not the only Michigander who has been able to start a 
family because of IVF. When her husband was serving our country in the 
U.S. Navy, Sue from Brighton, MI, used IVF to bring her son into the 
world. At the time, she was an elementary schoolteacher and her husband 
was deployed for months at a time. Her entire salary went toward the 
seven rounds of IVF that were needed to have a successful pregnancy--a 
wanted, present pregnancy.
  With insurance only paying for some of the medication, Sue spent over 
$100,000 out of her own pocket on treatment. This journey put an 
emotional and financial strain on Sue and her husband, as we would 
expect.
  And this situation is not unique. Our veterans and our servicemembers 
sacrifice so much for our country. They shouldn't have to sacrifice 
their ability to start or grow their family because these treatments 
aren't covered. And families shouldn't have to choose between going 
into debt to cover the enormous cost of treatment and having a baby 
just because it is not covered by insurance.
  That is why passing the Right to IVF Act is a no-brainer for me. I 
hope it is a no-brainer for everybody on the floor of the Senate. This 
should be 100 Members of the Senate supporting this bill.
  We need to protect the freedom for millions to use IVF. We need to 
expand

[[Page S4068]]

and protect fertility treatments for our servicemembers and our 
veterans and cover adoption assistance, which is in this bill. We need 
to lower the cost of IVF for everyone, and we need to make sure women 
have the freedom to make our own reproductive decisions--not rightwing 
politicians, not judges.
  That is why we must pass the Right to IVF Act, and it needs to be 
done today.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
  Ms. CANTWELL. I rise to join my colleagues here. I want to thank my 
colleague from Washington, Senator Murray, for her leadership and so 
many others who are here on the floor today.
  I come to speak also about the Right to IVF Act and want to say how 
important it is that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle support 
this.
  I want to take one minute, though, to talk about the important 
decision the Supreme Court just made on mifepristone. It is so 
important because 60 percent of abortions in the State of Washington 
are done with this drug. It is a highly safe and effective medication 
used by millions of Americans. And the Court ruled on standing alone. 
It didn't reach any conclusion about the ludicrous arguments that the 
plaintiffs were making.
  So America should not rest on this decision because anti-choice 
activists are going to keep using the courts to target abortion. It is 
just another reminder of why we have to fight for reproductive freedom 
and why we can't rest.
  I also, though, want to talk about how important it is to support the 
legislation in front of us. Every American should have a chance to use 
fertility treatments to bring new life into this world and to become a 
parent. This opportunity wasn't always available. The first child 
conceived through IVF was born in 1978. That was an era of major 
advances and new freedoms for women: the right to have your own credit 
cards, the right to choose to have your access to an abortion and when 
you start your family, the right not to be discriminated against in so 
many ways.
  Today, nearly half a century after IVF, it is safe, it is well-
established, and many, many, many American families rely on it. In 
fact, more than 2 percent of all children born in the United States are 
born as a result of IVF. We have IVF to thank for over 2,000 new lives 
created in the State of Washington just in 2022.
  IVF brings new life into the world and helps families start their 
families, and it shouldn't be controversial. That is why I can't 
believe that we have to take this action today because there are those 
who are trying to take this hard-won right away from families, to take 
away their reproductive rights and their freedoms.
  Since the Dobbs decision revoked the constitutional right to 
abortion, we have seen waves and waves of different things that affect 
our healthcare. In February, in Alabama, the State supreme court 
shockingly ruled that frozen embryos legally have the same rights as 
living children. That forced IVF clinics in the State to temporarily 
halt their services. One can only guess why they halted those services.
  At a Pacific Northwest facility in Seattle, a reproductive 
endocrinologist said her office got a wave of phone calls from 
fertility patients wanting to move embryos there, to the Northwest, 
after the Alabama ruling. They were terrified that the ruling could 
cause complications for the embryos and the future of their IVF 
process. The doctors said there is an increase in cost, in complexity, 
and the risk of damage to embryos associated with moving them because 
of the possibility of threats to IVF access.
  I have heard so many stories from my own constituents and that of 
Senator Murray's. A mother from Kirkland told me she gave birth to a 
baby boy after 4 years of fertility treatments, but she is afraid that 
the future in States might force people like her to remain without that 
option.
  A Spanaway mom of a 19-month-old conceived through IVF asked me to 
protect IVF so that everyone can choose--everyone gets to choose--when 
they start their family.
  Grandparents from Bremerton of an IVF baby wanted me to know that, 
during the IVF process, everything--everything, everything--is time-
sensitive.
  But rulings like Alabama's throw the process into chaos, potentially, 
permanently ripping away the prospects for these couples of having 
children.
  A Vancouver woman struggling with infertility due to scarring in her 
abdomen pointed out that IVF is science, and courts and legislators 
shouldn't be interfering with it.
  A woman in Everett, currently going through the IVF process for her 
second child, urged me to ensure everyone has access to those 
treatments.
  My constituents are right. Congress needs to act today to expand and 
protect the access to IVF.
  While it is safe and common, the IVF process still is stressful. It 
is still expensive. And that is why the possibility of activists going 
to court in an overzealous, anti-choice State and getting involved in 
these choices is not what we should support. We should support making 
sure that this right is protected. We can't have this continued attack 
on reproductive healthcare in the United States of America.
  The bill we are voting on today would establish the right to access 
IVF. It also would expand insurance coverage, which is incredibly 
expensive. Just one cycle can cost between $15,000 and $30,000, and 
many women require more than one cycle. So that cost can be as high as 
$60,000.
  It would also allow our veterans to help preserve their 
opportunities.
  In February, this Chamber tried to pass a narrow bill codifying the 
right to access IVF, and it was blocked.
  My colleagues on the other side of the aisle claim reproductive 
freedom isn't under attack. Trust me. Come to the State of Washington, 
where we have codified these rights. We are seeing this happen. 
Physicians are moving to our State because they are not sure, if they 
go home across the Idaho border, that they are not going to get 
arrested. Women are coming over to get treatment, not sure if they can 
get back to their State.
  The system is more clogged because more people are coming there 
because we provide the care. All of this is making the system harder to 
deliver the important things.
  I should just say that people aren't even thinking of the two 
collision courses here, where the vertical integration of healthcare is 
making it harder and harder for people like gynecologists to even stay 
in business. And now we are making it harder and harder on States that 
are the ones who are carrying the burden of upholding reproductive 
rights.
  I ask my colleagues to support this important measure. Let's make 
sure Americans have the freedom to decide for themselves when and how 
to have children, and let's put this to rest. Let's give Americans the 
certainty that fertility treatments in America are part of your 
healthcare delivery system.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Colorado.
  Mr. HICKENLOOPER. Mr. President, this is my son Jack, who I think you 
know. Every time I look at him, I remember the doctor telling my wife 
Robin and me that we had literally a one-in-a-million chance of 
naturally conceiving a child--a one-in-a-million chance.
  Like so many other couples in America, we had experienced a family 
health issue that would make having a child very difficult and 
exceedingly unlikely--all but impossible. You don't know how hard it is 
to hear something so definitive, so final until you are in that 
situation. It was the end of a dream we had to create a child together, 
to grow our little family--our family that, like so many others, didn't 
have the usual path to this point, the usual path that makes having 
children without medical help all but certain.
  But regardless of what the doctor was telling us, we knew that we 
would welcome a child with more love and care than I could ever put 
into words, if we only had the chance.
  If red States like Alabama had their way, Robin's and my story would 
have ended there, in inconsolable heartbreak and what might have been, 
what should have been. Thankfully for us, we don't live in an America 
as envisioned by MAGA Republican extremists in Alabama.
  The one-in-a-million odds weren't the end of our dream. It was just 
the start of a new part. That part was called in

[[Page S4069]]

vitro fertilization. It is not an easy process. It comes with its ups 
and downs, its uncertainties, and tremendous cost, both economic and 
emotional. But it meant our dream could still come true.
  And in December 2022, my wife and I welcomed this amazing little man, 
Jack Hickenlooper, into our family. In vitro gave us what we hoped for. 
It gave us our one in a million. And we are not the only ones. In 2022 
alone, more than 2,300 babies were born in Colorado through fertility 
services. Across the country, it was nearly 100,000 families. Now, so 
many families like ours are cherishing the sacred experience of staring 
into your own child's eyes--when they take off the sunglasses--and of 
that child staring back.
  Every family should have that same opportunity. And to restrict that 
opportunity in some States but not in others, or for some people but 
not for others, is nothing more than anti-American. Aren't we the 
country that stands for equality and freedom?
  We are standing here voting on this today because the Supreme Court 
overturned Roe v. Wade, seizing the rights of millions of women, same-
sex couples, and families like our own in the process.
  Don't take my word for it. Look at Alabama. We have already seen in 
vitro services stopped cold in the State of Alabama.
  That is not all. In the aftermath of the Roe decision, we have seen 
red States and MAGA Republicans trying to roll back the rights to 
abortion, to in vitro, and even contraception--banning contraception in 
America in 2024.
  The door is open right now for all of us to show our constituents 
that American families are more important than playing politics. I 
certainly hope we all do.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority whip.
  Mr. DURBIN. I want to thank Senator Murray for her leadership on this 
issue. I thank my colleague Senator Tammy Duckworth.
  I first met Tammy Duckworth about 12 years ago. She was my guest at a 
State of the Union Address. She was a patient at Walter Reed Hospital. 
She was recovering from the wounds which she incurred in a combat 
helicopter, fighting for the United States of America.
  What happened to her is unimaginable. A terrorist shot a rocket-
propelled grenade into the cockpit of her helicopter, and it landed in 
her lap. She lost her left leg as a result of it and went through at 
least a year, maybe more, at Walter Reed Hospital, patching her up, 
saving her arm, thank goodness, and giving her the kind of guidance she 
needed to lead a life.
  When I met her, I knew she was an extraordinary person, an 
extraordinary American. I didn't know how extraordinary until I called 
her one day and said: Would you consider running for office? In a 
moment of weakness, she says, with medication, she answered yes.
  I watched her elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and to the 
U.S. Senate. She has become more than just a colleague. She is a friend 
I dearly love. I believe we are lucky to have her in the Nation and in 
the U.S. Senate.
  She made a phone call to me about 8 years ago. I remember it so well. 
I was driving on Interstate 55 up to Bloomington for a meeting, and it 
was Tammy that gave me some news.
  I said: What is up, Tammy?
  She said: I am going to have a baby.
  You could have knocked me over with a feather. I couldn't believe it. 
After all she had been through--losing a leg, going through a year or 
more at Walter Reed Hospital--she and her husband Brian finally had a 
dream come true. Through in vitro fertilization, she was going to have 
a baby girl. It was a miracle. I couldn't believe it. Yet it did 
happen.
  We had to change the rules of the Senate so Tammy Duckworth, the 
first woman Senator to have a child while serving in the Senate, could 
bring her baby on the floor of the Senate. We have a special rule for 
that. But it meant so much for her to let her little girl have that 
experience that we changed the rules.
  The reason I tell you that story is it could be repeated over and 
over thousands and thousands of times. In vitro fertilization is the 
ticket for military servicemembers and veterans like Tammy Duckworth to 
have the joy of a child. In fact, she has had a second child through 
IVF. And with that joy, she showed that she cannot only be a great 
Senator and a great wife, but a terrific mother too.
  What is at stake here is privacy and freedom--privacy and freedom--as 
to whether we as Americans are going to respect one another in making 
these fundamental human decisions. There are politicians in this 
Chamber as well as in legislatures across the country who want to make 
that decision for your family. Don't let them take that away from you.
  That is why this vote is so critically important. What we are 
guaranteeing is the privacy and freedom of individuals and families who 
want to choose IVF to start or expand their families. That is just 
common sense.
  If you are pro-choice, protect the choice to use IVF to expand your 
family. If you are pro-life, protect the life that comes out of that 
process. It becomes such a critical part of your own life.
  I listened to Senator Hickenlooper. I met Jack. He is worth all the 
effort and pain they went through. People like Senator Hickenlooper and 
his wife Robin should have that opportunity, and we should protect it. 
Let's make sure we do.
  Vote yes on this proposal.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Connecticut.
  Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, when I introduced the Women's Health 
Protection Act a little more than 10 years ago, the idea that Roe v. 
Wade might be reversed was unthinkable--in fact, unimaginable. We are 
living now in the post-Dobbs era, which is one of horror and heartbreak 
for women across the country.
  Let's be very clear that the ramifications in our law, in our 
families, in bedrooms of Americans are widespread and real. The Alabama 
Supreme Court's ruling is absolutely horrifying to women and families 
who want IVF to give them the miracle of childbirth, the wondrous magic 
of a new life as part of their family.
  Now, a lot of people are going to look to today's Supreme Court 
decision and say: Isn't it comforting? No, it is not. This decision on 
mifepristone was made on a legal technicality. It does nothing to 
restore the reproductive rights and access to abortion that the Supreme 
Court dismantled in Dobbs, and it does nothing to reassure families 
that IVF will be accessible and affordable to them. That is why we need 
the Right to IVF Act--to reassure Lisa, who lives in Norwalk, CT, who 
has a healthy and happy baby girl as a result of IVF and cannot imagine 
life without it. Families like Lisa's wouldn't exist if it weren't for 
IVF, and many will not exist if we do not pass this measure.
  Those who vote against this measure are not in favor of life; they 
are anti-women, anti-choice, anti-science. This miracle is the result 
of scientific advance.
  I am going to close by just recalling a trip that I recently took to 
Normandy on the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Walking through the American 
cemetery, row upon row of gravestones, white, silently eloquent 
testimony to the importance of freedom and the American determination 
to expand freedom and liberty across our country and the world, and 
then to walk on Omaha Beach and see the absolutely insurmountable, 
three-football-field-long terrain that those soldiers had to confront 
and overcome on D-Day. I would guess that few, if any, of those young 
men knew of Roe v. Wade--they were kids, 17 and 18 years old, had never 
been away from home before, farm boys, mechanics--but they knew they 
were fighting for freedom. That is why they jumped into that 8 feet of 
water, under a hail of bullets and mortar fire, fighting for the ideal 
that America respects and expands the frontiers of freedom.
  If we have one-tenth, one-hundredth of their courage and 
determination, today this body will vote for the Right to IVF Act 
because it is about freedom.
  One Justice of the Supreme Court called the right of privacy ``the 
right to be let alone,'' and that is what American families want--the 
right to

[[Page S4070]]

be let alone from politicians or government bureaucrats telling them 
what to do with their families.
  We owe it to Americans. We owe it to the great tradition of our 
veterans of military service, to all who have given their lives to 
preserve America, the ideal and the beacon of freedom around the world.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota.
  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I rise in support of the Right to IVF 
Act, and I want to thank Senator Murray, who is here, and Senators 
Duckworth, Booker, and Schumer for their leadership on this bill. I am 
proud to be a cosponsor.
  We all know why we are here. We are all here in part because the 
Supreme Court made a wildly unprecedented decision in the Dobbs case. 
They threw out decades of precedence, making it the case that my 
daughter has less rights today than her mom or her grandma did. The 
ruling goes against the wishes of between 70 and 80 percent of 
Americans.
  In the wake of the disastrous ruling, extremist judges have attempted 
to undermine IVF and even criminalize doctors for simply doing their 
jobs. Twenty-one States have fully or partially banned abortion. The 
number of U.S. patients traveling to other States for care has 
skyrocketed to one in five. I know because they are coming to Minnesota 
from North Dakota and South Dakota.
  But it wasn't enough for them to just mess with a women's right to 
decide her own healthcare, no. Now they are trying to control when you 
choose to start a family. We saw this happen earlier this year in 
Alabama, where the State supreme court brought IVF procedures in the 
State to a screeching halt. This is merely the latest instance of the 
chaos and cruelty that have been unleashed since the Dobbs decision.
  We know what a miracle IVF is. You just saw Senator Hickenlooper's 
adorable little boy. IVF is a miracle for millions of families who 
can't otherwise have children, and no politician and no court should 
interfere.
  Since 1978, over 8 million children have been born due to fertility 
treatments like IVF. In 2022 alone, more than 1,800 babies were born in 
Minnesota, in my home State, thanks to IVF. That is why we are fighting 
to protect these rights.
  I am thinking of Miraya and Meta, whom I met this morning, two 
Minnesota moms. They are with us. They both became parents through the 
miracle of IVF.
  Meta said: I am the proud mother of twin girls, but without IVF and 
my ability to access treatment, they would not be here today. Our twins 
are now almost 8 years old, and I cannot imagine my life without them. 
They are incredible humans who are already bringing so much love, joy, 
and hope into the world.
  That is why, along with Senators Duckworth, Murray, Booker, and 
Schumer, I am calling on our colleagues to pass the Right to IVF Act. 
This legislation is hardly a radical proposal. It simply ensures that 
families can be in the driver's seat when it comes to family planning, 
not people who want to strip away the rights of those who have them.
  This bill safeguards a patient's ability to seek IVF and a healthcare 
provider's ability to provide these critical services. It ensures that 
our veterans can choose if, when, and how to start their families. 
Because the kind of healthcare insurance you have shouldn't determine 
whether your family can access the miracle of IVF, the bill requires 
health insurance carriers to cover fertility treatments.
  For these last years, we have seen complete chaos, a patchwork of 
laws across the country. What this bill does is protect freedom, 
protect the right to start a family.
  We all have an opportunity today to make clear where we stand, and I 
call on our colleagues to join us. The American people overwhelmingly 
support this bill. Let's get it done.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Hawaii.
  Mr. SCHATZ. Mr. President, nearly one in five American couples has 
trouble conceiving, and many of them turn to IVF for help. In the year 
2021, more than 85,000 babies were created using this miraculous 
procedure--truly a miracle. Yet they will also tell you, these parents, 
that undergoing treatment is hard and long and painful and challenging 
and expensive and emotionally and physically draining. It is often a 
last resort. After a long journey of failed attempts, they talk to 
their doctor, and their doctor says: Would you like to try this? And 
even that is going to be super expensive and maybe not work. One in 
five families experiences this trouble, and there is this miraculous 
treatment that can help you to start a family.
  So let's be really clear about what the so-called pro-life movement 
is about here. It is not about life at all. In this instance, it is 
specifically about assigning the rights of a fully formed human being 
to a fertilized embryo in a petri dish so that they can control 
females--so that they can control females. That is exactly what this is 
about.
  Look, there is a fair amount of spin going around Washington--more 
than usual--because Republicans understand how angry families are, how 
angry people who are not yet able to conceive are, and so they are 
trying to get people to believe something other than their own eyes and 
their own experience.
  But here is the beauty of this place: We talk and talk and talk and 
talk and talk, and then we vote. There is one opportunity and one 
opportunity only to enshrine the right to IVF in Federal statutory law.
  I don't care what you tweeted. I don't care what you said on cable 
news. I don't care what the memo from the campaign arm of the 
Republican National Committee says. In a few minutes, we will know the 
official position of the Republican conference on IVF, and the Susan B. 
Anthony list and the MAGA Court and these extreme forces in our society 
are going to show that the Republican Party is not for IVF.
  I wish it were different. I wish we could pass this law. But the 
beauty of the Senate floor is that everybody will be on the record by 
the end of the afternoon.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.
  Mr. WELCH. Mr. President, I rise in support of this legislation. I 
thank my colleagues, Senator Murray, Senator Booker, and Senator 
Duckworth.
  You know, there are two things. One is good news, and one is bad 
news. I will start with the bad news.
  We have a terrible U.S. Supreme Court. It will live in infamy for 
many reasons but none more than an ignominious decision that took away 
constitutional rights that American citizens enjoyed. They stripped 
women of their right to choose. Enormously bad consequences. It has 
created an incentive for folks who have their views to try to impose 
them on others, and we saw that in Alabama with their effort to 
prohibit people from having access to in vitro fertilization.
  But there is good news. The good news: our American families, couples 
who want to have a child, who are so excited about taking on that 
challenge of loving this new person and caring for them through their 
infancy, through their adolescence, looking forward to when they 
themselves will be grandparents. That is the good news.
  In 2022, 91,000 infants, through IVF, came into these families, so 
those couples have that opportunity to have this place to give the love 
that is within them that they can now express, having this child. That 
is really the good news here. So, yeah, I am upset about the Supreme 
Court, but I am so excited about American families that want to make 
this decision and have IVF as an option for them to be able to realize 
their dreams of giving love to this new person in the world.

  Now, our Republican colleagues are saying that this is a show vote so 
why pay attention to it. Well, you know what, they are right. They are 
right. It is a vote to show that we want to make certain, with the 
power of the U.S. Congress, that the decision a family wants to make 
about trying to conceive through IVF is protected; that they have the 
capacity to take advantage of the best medicine that is out there to 
realize that dream that is a dream about life. And what is wrong with 
showing the people of the United States that each and every one of us 
in the U.S. Senate wants to not only show that we respect and honor the 
decision

[[Page S4071]]

those citizens are making, but with the power invested in us as U.S. 
Senators, we are going to use the authority of our vote to guarantee 
they have that right?
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts.
  Mr. MARKEY. Mr. President, thank you to Senator Duckworth for her 
leadership today on the floor.
  In February, the Alabama Supreme Court placed the medical procedure 
that has helped millions of Americans realize their dream of having 
children, in vitro fertilization, or IVF, at risk. The Alabama judges 
used the Supreme Court's decision in the Dobbs case to justify their 
argument.
  These extremist judges showed the American people that the Dobbs case 
was never just about abortion. Dobbs was a preview of coming 
atrocities, and the Supreme Court majority declared open season on 
American reproductive freedom.
  And Republicans got to work. States passed immediate and overbroad 
abortion bans; peeled back protections for access to birth control, 
IUDs, and Plan B; and put access to IVF at risk. They created 
confusing, restrictive, and punitive schemes across States and 
threatened to jail patients and providers.
  And they aren't finished. Republicans don't have to pass a national 
ban on abortion, birth control, or IVF to effectively achieve that 
goal. Confusion, misinformation, and fear are the point. In some 
States, they make it so difficult and so terrifying to get reproductive 
care that it is like it is already banned.
  But in creating this chaos, Republicans have made clear their 
intentions and their position: Republicans will not protect the right 
to an abortion; Republicans will not protect the right to birth 
control; and Republicans will not protect the right to start a family.
  Republicans will try to hide their extremism and say they support 
contraception and IVF, but we are calling their bluff.
  Given the chance to protect access to contraception, they voted no. 
And today, given the chance to vote to protect IVF, they will vote no.
  Republicans will continue to pursue their anti-choice, anti-freedom, 
and show the American people what ``GOP'' really stands for: Gutting 
Our Protections. The GOP are so offended by bodily autonomy that they 
would rather follow the extremism of the few than the will of the 
majority of American people who want their reproductive rights 
protected.
  We must meet the clarity of their extremism with the clarity of 
justice. We will fight for reproductive freedom. We will fight for 
national protections for abortion, birth control, and IVF. We will keep 
putting them on the record, and we will guarantee that they are held 
accountable to the American people who will not forget who tossed away 
their freedom in pursuit of radical rightwing extremism.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.
  Mr. MERKLEY. Mr. President, the Right to IVF Act is simple. It says 
that all Americans should have access to the tools that they need to 
start a family, no matter where they live or how much they earn or 
whether they serve in the military.
  That all sounds obvious. We shouldn't even need this bill, but we do 
need this bill. We need this bill because a judge in Alabama ruled that 
an embryo that is created by basic assistive reproductive technologies 
like IVF can be considered children. And that even if embryos aren't 
viable, an IVF provider could be held liable for manslaughter or murder 
if anything happens to those embryos.
  We need this bill because the cost for a single round of IVF is 
enough to bankrupt a family, let alone two or three or four rounds, and 
many parents are forced to bear all of those costs out-of-pocket. A 
constituent in Oregon said:

       Most fertility treatments are considered ``elective'' by 
     insurance companies. I never elected to have a deformed 
     uterus and fallopian tubes.

  Another parent in Oregon who was a public servant for 22 years added 
up the out-of-pocket costs:

       $9,000 to see the Reproductive Endocrinologist, $2,000 for 
     consultation and diagnostic testing . . . $7,000 for 
     medications . . . $3,000 for cryo-preservation and storage 
     fees . . . $5- to 7,000 for genetic testing . . . $2- to 
     3,000 for embryo transfer.
       Then, we hope and pray it works. If not, then we do a 
     second round. Again, all cash. Our insurance benefits do not 
     cover ANY infertility treatments. We have nothing left.

  This is unacceptable. Fertility treatments are medical care that 
should be covered by insurance, full stop. We need this bill because 
many of our military servicemembers and veterans have been wounded and 
lost the ability to conceive, and many more are deployed to dangerous 
combat zones right now. Infertility rates for our members of the 
military can be up to three times higher than the rest of the 
population. They protect our families. Let us protect their ability to 
have a family and guarantee they have access to IVF and the other 
fertility care they need.
  And we need this bill because, as we celebrate the month of June as 
Pride Month, we know that many of our LGBTQ+ friends and family members 
rely on IVF to conceive.
  We shouldn't need this bill, but we do, to protect IVF providers, to 
cover IVF costs, protect the ability of members of our military, LGBTQ 
community to start a family.
  Anyone who has been through IVF knows that someone who is willing to 
endure the long and heart-wrenching process that involves truly wants 
to become a parent, to have children, to raise a family. And we should 
do all we can to support that.
  So I urge my Republican colleagues to reconsider. Instead of being so 
anti-family, instead of denying the ability of our community members to 
have children, join us in this protection.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I rise and want to thank my colleague from 
Washington State who has been leading on these issues for years and 
years and my friend from Illinois. And what I am going to do just 
briefly, my colleagues have been so eloquent, is talk about why Senator 
Duckworth's legislation is so important at this crucial time. It is 
absolutely essential that we pass the Duckworth bill.
  And as far as I am concerned, I am prepared to stay on this floor--I 
mentioned this to my colleague--for as long as it takes. We are just 
going to stay at it until we get this done. And the reason I feel so 
strongly about this is, several decades ago, as a young Member of the 
Congress--the other body, the House, with a full head of hair and 
rugged good looks--I wrote a law called the Fertility Clinic Success 
Rate and Certification Act. It was supported by the profession. It was 
supported by patient groups.
  And I never imagined, after we passed that law, that people would be 
out here on the floor of the U.S. Senate trying to unravel the progress 
that has been made. And when we passed it, it was all about some simple 
ideas, particularly clarity for the families trying to navigate the 
system. It was largely information.
  It was a new technology then, decades ago. It is not now. Now it is 
proven. Families rejoice being able to use it.
  And never did I imagine that we would have an effort on the floor of 
the U.S. Senate trying to turn back the clock, trying to unravel the 
progress that has been made. That is what Senator Murray and Senator 
Duckworth are taking on: a rearguard action to turn back the clock and 
unravel the progress that has been made for so many families.
  And, unfortunately, this is kind of where we have been for a while, 
trying to unravel the progress with respect to contraceptives, trying 
to unravel the progress with mifepristone. We will have more to talk 
about all of this.
  But the court ruling out of Alabama earlier this year would have 
effectively turned back the progress, made IVF impossible. And since 
then, we have seen the far right, as my colleagues have said, trying to 
build on the effort to take away our freedom.
  And none of this seemed to me, Senator Duckworth, imaginable several 
decades ago when people were rejoicing because they knew how to 
navigate the system and get information, figure out what providers were 
right for them, and it worked so well, as it does today.
  And your bill is absolutely essential business for the Senate. I 
would just

[[Page S4072]]

say to my colleagues here: Do not vote to unravel all of this progress 
that families rejoice in. Support the Duckworth legislation.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Delaware.
  Mr. COONS. Mr. President, I am the Senator from Delaware, and I am 
joined by my colleague from Delaware. And one of the things that has 
long distinguished Delaware--it was one of the first States in the 
whole country where, because of her personal experience with IVF, a 
former Republican, Delaware insurance commissioner, helped drive 
through mandatory insurance coverage for IVF in the State of Delaware 
years ago. The idea that today we would be on the floor of the Senate 
advocating on behalf of Senator Duckworth's bill to put in law 
protections, the right to access IVF, would have been unthinkable.
  I still remember, as someone hoping to become a parent, struggling 
with the challenge of working through difficulties that we as a couple 
faced in becoming pregnant and talking all the time to friends and 
neighbors and others who were going through similar challenges. There 
is nothing more important in life than being a parent. And sometimes 
all of these activities and debates here on the floor don't connect. 
People have a hard time understanding why this matters. One of the 
reasons I am so thrilled that Senator Duckworth is leading this effort 
here on the floor today is it is easy to understand. Because of her 
service to our Nation, because of her grievous wounds in combat is why, 
perhaps, this is so important to her and her family.
  But I wanted to share the story of a Delawarean, and I am so grateful 
she has allowed me to share her story today.
  Lindsay Griffin was diagnosed with Stage IV endometriosis, which 
prevented her from ever conceiving naturally. Lindsay and her husband 
were determined to become parents. And like so many of us, knew that it 
would be expensive and difficult and take a long time. They even took 
out a $25,000 loan to pay for IVF.
  Lindsay endured procedure after procedure, surgeries, embryo 
transfers, even the loss of a pregnancy. Now, today, years later, they 
are parents to two healthy boys, 7 and 2.
  Why would we in this country put this blessing of parenthood for so 
many in Delaware and Illinois and throughout our Nation at risk? It is 
already hard enough.
  Today, Lindsay and her husband are blessed with two children. But in 
States like Alabama, far-right lawmakers and judges have already tried 
to deny families this precious gift.
  The vast majority of Americans want us to pass this bill today, want 
us to protect the right to IVF. Eighty-six percent of Americans in a 
recent poll want us to do this. So why is this even controversial? In 
the best of circumstances, the journey to the blessing of parenthood is 
difficult. The journey to the blessing of parenthood through IVF is 
incredibly hard: emotionally, financially, physically.
  Let's stand up for families for the common and shared principle that 
the blessing of parenting should not in any way be barred by threats to 
the procedure of in vitro fertilization. I stand before you today as 
someone committed to protecting IVF in Delaware, in this Congress, in 
this Nation.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Baldwin). The junior Senator from Hawaii.
  Ms. HIRONO. Madam President, as we approach the 2-year anniversary of 
the disastrous Dobbs decision, I am struck by the chaos it has sown 
across our country.
  Last week, on this floor, I was joined by a number of my Democratic 
colleagues in speaking out against the Republicans' attacks on 
contraception. Despite the relentless attacks from my colleagues across 
the aisle that they actually support the right to contraception, when 
it came down to it, nearly every single Republican voted against a bill 
protecting the right to contraception.
  Today, I rise in defense of another tool that has helped millions of 
people across our country start or grow their families. This tool is 
called in vitro fertilization. For decades, IVF and other assisted 
reproductive technologies--or ART--have helped people who otherwise 
couldn't start families of their own.
  While some on the right like to paint IVF as some sort of new or 
untested technology, that is not so. The first baby delivered via IVF 
was more than 45 years ago, and since then, IVF has helped bring more 
than 10 million babies--10 million babies--into this world. In fact, as 
a State representative in the Hawaii Legislature in the 1980s, I led 
the passage of a bill making Hawaii one of the first States in the 
Nation to require health insurers to cover IVF treatment. That was in 
1987, years before the iPhone, before email, before some of my 
colleagues in Congress were even born. And earlier this year, I met Dr. 
Lori Kamemoto, an OBGYN who helped deliver the first baby born in 
Hawaii via IVF.
  And yet, thanks to the chaos created by Dobbs, a whole range of 
reproductive rights are on the chopping block. Look at Alabama, where 
the State supreme court invoked a fetal personhood law to call into 
question the legality of IVF, effectively halting IVF treatments in the 
State. In this Chamber, earlier this year, Republicans blocked our 
attempts in passing a bill protecting IVF.
  The impacts of these concerted attacks are being felt far beyond the 
red States. In Hawaii, a doctor who practices in the OB-GYN field on 
Oahu reported that he ``[O]bserved an increasing level of anxiety among 
both [his] fertility patients and staff.'' So Hawaii being one of the 
first States to protect IVF and promote IVF, this doctor is saying that 
even his patients are seeing the impact of all of these attacks on our 
reproductive rights.
  IVF is a complicated process as it is, even under the best of 
circumstances. The last thing people trying to conceive need to worry 
about is being criminalized by some of the States I mentioned--
Alabama--because of the whims of far-right jurists and politicians.
  That is why this bill is so important. It would establish a 
nationwide right for patients to access IVF and other ART services and 
a right for doctors to provide IVF treatment. And, crucially, it would 
require and expand health insurance coverage of IVF because we know 
access without affordability is not true access. But my Republican 
colleagues appear blinded by their obsession with power and control 
over women's bodies that they are unable to support even this 
commonsense bill--again, indicating how out of touch Republicans are 
about the needs of particularly women in our country. It is 
disappointing, but not surprising. They continue to show us just how 
out of step they are with the American people.
  So today, the Democrats will vote to protect the right to IVF as we 
continue working to ensure people can make decisions about their 
bodies, their lives, and their futures--free from government 
interference.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The senior Senator from Delaware.
  Mr. CARPER. Madam President, as many of our colleagues know, I am the 
proud father of two sons and a stepson. It has been the joy of my life 
to be their father. My wife and I love them all unconditionally.
  But the journey to parenthood is not the same for every family, nor 
always an easy one. Being the last Vietnam veteran serving in the U.S. 
Senate, I know the importance of helping our servicemembers when they 
return home from deployment abroad.
  During my three deployments to Southeast Asia many years ago, many of 
my brothers in combat shared dreams of coming home to marry and start 
families of their own. But those who made it home from Southeast Asia, 
as well as other war zones past and present, have often struggled with 
health issues for years to come, including infertility.
  While IVF was not an option for returning Vietnam veterans, had it 
been available, I know it would have helped countless young couples 
start their families in the country they fought so hard to protect. We 
have an obligation to serve those who serve our country, and this bill 
does just that.
  The Right to IVF Act is a commonsense piece of legislation, and 
bringing more life into this world should be an issue that all of us 
can agree on.
  I urge all of our colleagues to join us today in passing this 
legislation before us.

[[Page S4073]]

  With that, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The junior Senator from Minnesota.
  Ms. SMITH. Madam President, I rise today to urge my colleagues to 
vote in favor of the Right to IVF Act. So here is something that is 
close to a miracle. People who have struggled and struggled to have 
children are able today, through the very best science and medicine, to 
conceive and to bring a child into the world. It is incredible; it is a 
blessing.
  In 2021, more than 86,000 babies born in America were conceived 
through IVF. And in my home State of Minnesota, I have heard from so 
many of my constituents who have struggled with infertility and who 
wouldn't have children but for IVF. So today, we have the opportunity 
to vote on a bill that protects us. Our bill is straightforward in its 
purpose. It would establish a clear and enforceable nationwide right 
for people to receive IVF, for doctors to provide IVF, and for health 
insurance to cover IVF.
  So if you live in a State where a Republican State legislature passes 
a law infringing on IVF, that would be stopped by our bill. If you get 
your health insurance through your employer, your health insurance 
would cover your care. If you are a servicemember or a veteran, as my 
colleague Senator Carper said, you are covered--same for Federal 
employees. And if you get your health insurance through Medicaid, which 
covers 40 percent of the births in this country, you are covered.
  So you may be asking: Who could disagree with this? It is a good 
question. And here is the reality. Since the extremist Supreme Court 
Justices--appointed by Donald Trump and confirmed by Senate 
Republicans--since they overturned Roe, Trump abortion bans across the 
country have sown chaos and confusion. And they have emboldened States 
that have created this chilling effect on reproductive healthcare and 
emboldened States like Alabama to restrict IVF.

  Now, if my colleagues on the other side want to protect IVF, if they 
believe that doctors and providers should be able to provide IVF 
without fear of criminal prosecution, then they would vote for our 
bill.
  Colleagues, I hope that Republicans will vote with us to proceed on 
our bill so that we can make real progress to protect access to IVF and 
to say very clearly that government has no business interfering in your 
families' decision about the healthcare that you need to treat 
infertility.
  If my Republican colleagues want to make it clear where you stand on 
IVF, please join us in voting for this bill today. If you vote no, your 
actions speak louder than any words.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The junior Senator from Illinois.
  Ms. DUCKWORTH. Madam President, I rise today to speak in support of 
my bill to protect IVF. Elissa Smith was living in Alabama when she 
heard the news this past February. She had been pregnant a few years 
earlier, but it had left her with scars, both emotionally and 
physically.
  She had been in her third trimester with her first child when she had 
learned that she had cancer. She gave birth early to a beautiful baby 
girl. Then soon after, she underwent surgery, chemotherapy, multiple 
medical procedures--you name it--a care plan that helped to get rid of 
the disease but that also left her unable to conceive again. 
Thankfully, she had than undergone one round of IVF before her 
treatment for cancer.
  Fast forward to early 2024, things were finally getting brighter. She 
and her husband had just begun to research surrogates to carry her 
viable embryos. Then, a gavel sounded out of her State courthouse, 
marking the ruling that changed theirs and so many other families' 
lives.
  On February 16, the Alabama Supreme Court declared that frozen 
extrauterine embryos created through IVF should be considered children 
under State law--a ruling that painted would-be moms and their doctors 
as criminals and one that uprooted the dreams and began the nightmares 
of aspiring parents, as IVF clinics statewide soon paused treatments 
out of fear that their doctors and patients would be punished for 
trying to start families.
  Elissa was one of these women. Now, it seemed like her desperately 
hoped for wish of growing her family was snatched away by an extremist 
court that either had no idea or simply didn't care about everything 
that had gone into trying to turn her dreams of a family into reality.
  Elissa's story is exceptional. But it is not the exception. For so 
many women, that lifelong hope of having children is now stuck in a 
hellish limbo, as they remain uncertain whether more States will follow 
Alabama's lead; as they are forced to live in fear that Republican 
success come November would even further imperil their right to try to 
create a family; as they remain unsure whether living in a red State 
under a Trump Presidency could mean getting jail time for committing 
this supposed sin of needing modern medicine to bring into the world a 
baby to nuzzle and swaddle and love.
  Look, I was actually stationed in Alabama many times throughout my 23 
years of military service. And I didn't know it at the time back then, 
but infertility would become one of the most heartbreaking struggles of 
my life, my miscarriage more painful than any wound I ever earned on 
the battlefield.
  It is only thanks to IVF that I get to be embarrassingly proud when I 
hang my 6-year-old's drawings on my Senate office walls or that I get 
to be tackled in bed every Mother's Day by my 9-year-old who runs into 
my room bearing the biggest of hugs and sweetest of cards.
  So excuse me if I find it a bit offensive when a bunch of politicians 
who have never spent a day in med school hint that those of us who have 
needed the help of IVF to become moms should be sitting behind bars 
rather than lulling our babies to sleep in rocking chairs.
  My apologies if I take it personally when the same folks who rely on 
NRA blood money to get elected suggest that women like me are 
committing acts akin to murder when all we are trying to do is create 
life and not have to suffer through more miscarriages.
  You know, right after the Alabama ruling came out, I came to this 
very spot and begged my GOP colleagues to help me pass my bill that 
would set the simple standard that no doctor or hopeful parent could be 
criminalized for IVF. And Republicans blocked it. This was after days 
and days of the GOP claiming to support IVF. This was after they 
claimed to support reproductive health. This was after days of them 
claiming that they actually gave a damn about the women in this 
country. Naturally, that was all untrue, all a ruse to mislead voters.
  And at this point, it is obvious: The only thing they care about is 
kissing up to trial room Trump and bowing down to the most extreme wing 
of their party. Things like common decency or common sense doesn't even 
register anymore.
  It comes down to this: Every woman deserves to be able to be called 
``mama'' without being called a criminal. That is why, today, I am 
trying once again to pass legislation that would enshrine into law 
every American's right to IVF, now called the Right to IVF Act.
  If Republicans actually care more about protecting women's health 
more than they do about getting invitations to Mar-a-Lago, then all 
they have to do to show it is help me move my bill forward--because, 
look, struggling with infertility is hard. Using all your savings to go 
through round after round of IVF is hard. This vote? Well, that is one 
thing that is actually really simple: Vote for it.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Louisiana.
  Mr. CASSIDY. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for up 
to 5 minutes, followed by Leader Schumer for up to 3.
  Mr. BOOKER. Reserving the right to object, if the Senator would allow 
me just to not give my remarks on the floor but enter them into the 
Record, I am happy to give consent to that.
  Mr. CASSIDY. Absolutely. And I did not mean to cut you off, and I 
apologize. I did not know you were in the queue. I apologize.
  Mr. BOOKER. I am the junior Senator from New Jersey; I am used to 
being cut off.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. BOOKER. Madam President, I rise today in support of the Right to

[[Page S4074]]

IVF Act, a package of bills that I was proud to introduce alongside my 
colleagues, Senator Duckworth and Senator Murray. This legislation does 
two key things: it establishes an enforceable nationwide right to 
fertility treatments, including in vitro fertilization or IVF and it 
allows more people to access these critical, family building treatments 
at a lower cost by expanding insurance coverage.
  I am especially proud that my bill, the Access to Fertility Treatment 
and Care Act, is included in this package. This bill makes fertility 
care, including IVF, more affordable by requiring employer-sponsored 
insurance plans and other public insurance plans to cover those 
treatments.
  Millions of Americans who rely on fertility treatments and IVF to 
build their families face excessive out-of-pocket costs.
  This would help Americans like Lindsay Gordon, a constituent of mine 
from Glassboro, NJ, realize her dream of starting a family. When 
Lindsay and her husband Daniel were diagnosed with male-factor 
infertility, IVF became the only option to have children. But even 
though they both worked for private corporations, neither Lindsay nor 
Daniel had insurance coverage for fertility treatment. So they drained 
their life savings and Lindsay actually took on a second job at night 
to afford IVF treatments, working over 18 hours a day for over a year. 
Heartbreakingly, Lindsay and Daniel suffered multiple miscarriages 
while going through the process to achieve a pregnancy. In all, their 
fertility journey cost them close to $100,000 in out-of-pocket 
healthcare costs. This is a staggering burden that can keep people from 
accessing these medical services.
  There is a happy ending to their family building journey: Lindsay and 
Daniel were ultimately blessed with a baby boy. But no family should 
have to struggle so much to build the family of their dreams.
  There is overwhelming support for the Right to IVF Act: it has 46 
cosponsors in the Senate. By supporting this legislation, we make clear 
to Lindsay and Daniel Gordon and to the American people that being rich 
or poor should not dictate whether you get to start or grow a family.
  Supporting this bill also sends the message that radical courts and 
legislators should not dictate whether someone has access to 
reproductive health care.
  Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, we have seen a full-
scale assault on the rights of women to make their own reproductive 
health care decisions. We have seen increased attempts by State 
governments to exercise control over women's bodies, including by 
criminalizing expectant mothers. And we have seen confusion and 
uncertainty amongst medical providers, who are trying to uphold the 
oath they swore to care for their patients.
  The Court's radical decision to overturn Roe opened the floodgates on 
attacks beyond abortion to other types of reproductive health. The 
Alabama Supreme Court made a medically and scientifically unfounded 
decision that a frozen embryo should be treated as the legal equivalent 
of an existent child or a fetus gestating in a uterus. IVF treatment 
immediately halted across Alabama following this ruling, illustrating 
how fragile access to these services are without a federal enforceable 
right to IVF.
  I firmly believe that everyone everywhere deserves to have access to 
high quality, comprehensive healthcare. Healthcare includes 
reproductive services, fertility care, and abortion. I am not alone in 
this belief. Most American adults agree with me that these rights must 
be protected.
  I know there are people across this country, in red States and blues 
States alike, making deeply personal reproductive healthcare decisions. 
These decisions should not be more difficult because of the assault on 
reproductive freedom. I look forward to continuing to fight to protect 
your fundamental freedoms and to increase access to reproductive 
healthcare for every American.
  I yield to the Senator.
  Mr. CASSIDY. Madam President, I have been sitting here listening to 
this, and I can't help but notice that my Democratic fellow Senators 
have chosen to disrespect and deceive the American people as they 
politicize a deeply personal issue for short-term political gain--
distorting facts, capitalizing on the pain and the longing of women 
desperate to conceive, families desperate to hold a child. Democrats 
are trivializing, for political purposes, the substantial emotional, 
financial, and personal investment required of a woman and of a family 
to become pregnant through IVF.
  Let's set the record straight. I support IVF. Republicans in the 
Senate support IVF.
  Now, the tragic situation in Alabama has been used to fearmonger and 
scare that IVF is somehow in jeopardy, as though for someone who has a 
hope for a future family, that hope is threatened. And that is not 
true. Let's just say there is no State in the United States of America 
that prohibits a woman from growing her family through IVF, and 
Democrats know that.
  Let me say that again. There is not a single State which bans IVF; 
and Alabama, which has been mentioned several times, specifically 
passed a law after the Mobile incident in which they make sure--
affirm--that IVF is available.
  So this bill before us today would have done nothing to prevent that 
which happened in Mobile, where embryos were dropped and destroyed. In 
the recent case at Mobile's Center for Reproductive Medicine, a 
hospital patient wandered into the embryology lab--how did that 
happen?--removed five human embryos from cryostorage, and dropped them, 
destroying the embryos.
  Tragically, cases like this are not isolated. There was a storage 
tank failure in San Francisco that resulted in the death of 3,500 eggs 
and human embryos and another in Ohio in which 4,000 eggs and human 
embryos died.
  A recent investigation into a fertility clinic with 33 locations 
across the country uncovered multiple instances of accidental embryo 
destruction, mislabeled embryos, and labs with faulty heating, 
ventilation, and air conditioning.
  Just this year, a fertility clinic in California used hydrogen 
peroxide instead of distilled water during the incubation period--used 
hydrogen peroxide instead of distilled water--rendering all of the 
embryos nonviable. Then, if you can believe it, the clinic allegedly 
transferred more than two dozen embryos into would-be mothers despite 
knowing that this would not end in a pregnancy.
  It is expected, at a minimum, that fertility clinics protect and 
respect human life, keeping these treasured embryos safe. Women, 
mothers, parents--they deserve better.
  But what we have today is a haphazardly copied and pasted bill that 
sets up a messy hierarchy of unfunded mandates and inconsistent 
policies. For example, under this legislation, private insurance 
companies are required to provide unlimited fertility treatments and 
related storage, but the bill limits how many treatments a veteran can 
get through the VA clinic.
  So why are women who receive care at the VA treated differently than 
those with commercial insurance? If access to IVF is really a problem 
and this legislation is really needed, we could have addressed that if 
we had taken this bill through the committee process, but I note that 
Leader Schumer plucked it out of the committee before we had a chance 
to address the shortcomings, and he brought it to the floor for, I 
presume, political purposes.
  By the way, we don't even have a CBO score. That is usually like, you 
can't bring anything to the floor unless you have a Congressional 
Budget Office score. How much is it going to cost? It is because this 
is not serious legislation. The CBO, by the way, acknowledges that it 
has not evaluated and cannot evaluate this mash-up of bills.
  The committee process would have allowed us to explore the effect of 
a mandate on Federal programs like Medicare, the DOD, the VA, small 
businesses, and State Medicaid programs. So how will this legislation 
impact that woman business owner with 20 employees, 10 of whom are 
women in their childbearing years? We don't know. We don't know because 
this is not serious legislation. It was not taken through the committee 
process. It is a political process. Now, we can guess. Premiums will 
skyrocket.

[[Page S4075]]

  I ask unanimous consent for 2 more minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. CASSIDY. That woman I described with a small business who has 10 
employees must now make the challenging decision to absorb the new cost 
or consider not offering health insurance to employees or laying 
employees off.
  Interestingly, labor unions got more time to comply with the 
insurance mandate than others. If this is a political bill, you would 
expect a carve-out for political supporters.

  The bill requires coverage of genetic testing of human embryos, which 
may help inform decisions about which embryos to transfer first, but to 
what end? And will these tests be used to screen for life-ending 
conditions?
  I only see two limits in this bill: one, on the ability of healthcare 
providers to exercise their conscience rights when practicing medicine 
and, two, on States that wish to regulate the practice of medicine in a 
way that treats human embryos with the value and dignity they deserve.
  Republicans are so open to working with Democrats on a sincere 
bipartisan effort, but this is a show vote. Unfortunately, Democrats do 
not care about working with Republicans to protect IVF access. They 
wish to manufacture an issue they can campaign on.
  Today's vote is disingenuous. Pushing a bill that is haphazardly 
drafted and destined to fail does a disservice to all women who may 
pursue IVF treatments.
  I will end as I started. This seems a deceiving, disrespectful bill 
to misinform and scare the public and to gin up Democratic votes for 
November. And that is shame. Americans deserve better.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, today, Senators face a very simple 
question: Do you agree Americans should have access to IVF; yes or no? 
If ``yes,'' the only correct answer is to vote yes on the Right to IVF 
Act.
  Protecting IVF should be the easiest ``yes'' vote Senators have taken 
all year. All this bill does is establish a nationwide right to IVF and 
eliminate barriers for millions of Americans who seek IVF to have kids.
  It is personal to me. I have a beautiful 1-year-old grandson because 
of the miracle of IVF. And so, in a perfect world, a bill like this 
would not be necessary, but after the fiasco of the Alabama Supreme 
Court decision and the generally MAGA views of some on the Supreme 
Court, Americans are genuinely worried that IVF is the next target of 
anti-choice extremists.
  To my Republican colleagues who say they are pro-family, today's bill 
protecting IVF is as pro-family as it gets, and we should vote yes 
today.
  It is a contradiction to claim you are pro-family but then turn 
around and vote to block protections for IVF. The contrast today is 
glaring. Here in the Senate, Democrats are talking about protecting 
women and IVF, and a couple of blocks away, Trump and our Republican 
colleagues are talking about protecting tax cuts for the very wealthy.
  So the American people are watching how we vote today on basic 
freedom. Parents back home are watching how we vote. Couples who want 
to become parents are watching how we vote. It is very simple: If you 
support access to IVF then vote to protect access to IVF today.
  Thank you to Senators Duckworth, Murray, Booker, and so many others 
leading on this legislation.
  I urge a ``yes'' vote.


                             Cloture Motion

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Pursuant to rule XXII, the Chair lays before 
the Senate the pending cloture motion, which the clerk will state.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

                             Cloture Motion

       We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the 
     provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, 
     do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the motion to 
     proceed to Calendar No. 413, S. 4445, a bill to protect and 
     expand nationwide access to fertility treatment, including in 
     vitro fertilization.
         Charles E. Schumer, Tammy Duckworth, Richard Blumenthal, 
           Alex Padilla, Tammy Baldwin, Tim Kaine, Richard J. 
           Durbin, Jeanne Shaheen, Benjamin L. Cardin, Debbie 
           Stabenow, Patty Murray, Catherine Cortez Masto, Tina 
           Smith, Elizabeth Warren, Sheldon Whitehouse, Kirsten E. 
           Gillibrand, Christopher Murphy.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the mandatory quorum 
call has been waived.
  The question is, Is it the sense of the Senate that debate on the 
motion to proceed to Calendar No. 413, S. 4445, a bill to protect and 
expand nationwide access to fertility treatment, including in vitro 
fertilization, shall be brought to a close?
  The yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from California (Ms. Butler), 
the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez), the Senator from Vermont 
(Mr. Sanders), and the Senator from Arizona (Ms. Sinema) are 
necessarily absent.
  Mr. THUNE. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Missouri (Mr. Schmitt).
  Further, if present and voting: the Senator from Missouri (Mr. 
Schmitt) would have voted ``nay.''
  The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 48, nays 47, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 197 Leg.]

                                YEAS--48

     Baldwin
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Booker
     Brown
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Collins
     Coons
     Cortez Masto
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Fetterman
     Gillibrand
     Hassan
     Heinrich
     Hickenlooper
     Hirono
     Kaine
     Kelly
     King
     Klobuchar
     Lujan
     Manchin
     Markey
     Merkley
     Murkowski
     Murphy
     Murray
     Ossoff
     Padilla
     Peters
     Reed
     Rosen
     Schatz
     Shaheen
     Smith
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Van Hollen
     Warner
     Warnock
     Warren
     Welch
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                                NAYS--47

     Barrasso
     Blackburn
     Boozman
     Braun
     Britt
     Budd
     Capito
     Cassidy
     Cornyn
     Cotton
     Cramer
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Ernst
     Fischer
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hagerty
     Hawley
     Hoeven
     Hyde-Smith
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Lankford
     Lee
     Lummis
     Marshall
     McConnell
     Moran
     Mullin
     Paul
     Ricketts
     Risch
     Romney
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Schumer
     Scott (FL)
     Scott (SC)
     Sullivan
     Thune
     Tillis
     Tuberville
     Vance
     Wicker
     Young

                             NOT VOTING--5

     Butler
     Menendez
     Sanders
     Schmitt
     Sinema
  (Mr. MERKLEY assumed the Chair.)
  (Mr. WHITEHOUSE assumed the Chair.)
  (Mr. CARPER assumed the Chair.)
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Smith). On this vote, the yeas are 48, the 
nays are 47.
  Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn not having voted 
in the affirmative, the motion was rejected.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, for everyone's awareness, I am changing 
my vote on this bill, from yes to no, in order to have the option of 
returning to this legislation later. We hope some of our colleagues on 
the other side of the aisle will see the light and change their minds.


                          Motion to Reconsider

  Madam President, I enter a motion to reconsider the failed cloture 
vote with respect to the motion to proceed to Calendar No. 413, S. 
4445.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The motion is entered.

                          ____________________