WASHINGTON — A group of Senate Democrats is announcing a legislative package to protect in vitro fertilization (IVF) on Monday, an election-year push to place reproductive rights at the forefront of political discourse. The Right to IVF Act, spearheaded by Sens. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, Patty Murray of Washington, and Cory Booker of New Jersey, includes four bills aimed at preserving access to IVF and making the procedure more affordable for families. The bills, which had been introduced previously, are the Access to Family Building Act, the Veteran Families Health Services Act, the Access to Infertility Treatment and Care Act, and the Family Building FEHB Fairness Act (FEHB stands for Federal Employees Health Benefit).

“In the nearly two years since the Supreme Court threw out Roe v. Wade, our nation has seen the horrific consequences of Republicans’ anti-science, anti-woman crusade that has put IVF at risk for millions of Americans who rely on it to start or grow their family,” Duckworth said in a statement. Duckworth, who used IVF to have her two daughters, emphasized that “struggling with infertility is painful enough — every American deserves the right to access the treatment.”

The proposed legislation aims to establish a statutory right for patients to access IVF, protect providers from legal liability, ensure service members and veterans have access to the procedure, and require more health insurers to cover fertility care.

“Republican attacks on reproductive rights since the Dobbs decision have not stopped at abortion—their reckless crusade to criminalize basic reproductive health care and give embryos the exact same rights as living, breathing human beings has put IVF in jeopardy and endangered the lives of pregnant women,” Murray said.

The debate gained national attention after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled in February that embryos created by IVF are children, a decision that sparked widespread backlash. This ruling left doctors and families fearing legal repercussions, as embryos are often discarded during the IVF process due to genetic abnormalities or patient decisions. In response, Republican Gov. Kay Ivey signed legislation shielding IVF providers from legal consequences.

A CBS News/YouGov poll in March found that 86% of Americans believe IVF should be legal, highlighting the political liability for Republicans who have pushed strict anti-abortion policies and claim that life begins at conception.

After the Alabama ruling, Duckworth sought to pass the Access to Family Building Act, part of the new package, by unanimous consent on the Senate floor. However, it was blocked by Sen. Cindy Hyde Smith, R-Miss., who argued that the Alabama decision “did not ban IVF, nor has any state banned IVF.” In contrast, Sens. Katie Britt, R-Ala., and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, introduced the IVF Protection Act, which does not compel providers to offer IVF but would penalize states with Medicaid funding cuts if they outright ban access to the procedure.

The Republican proposal faced immediate backlash from reproductive rights groups and Senate Democrats, who criticized it for its vague definition of IVF and for not explicitly prohibiting states from imposing restrictive policies.

“Unlike GOP legislation that would not protect IVF and is only a PR tool for Republicans to hide their extremism, our Right to IVF Act would actually protect Americans from attempts to restrict IVF and would allow more people to access these vital services at a lower cost,” Murray stated. Duckworth also dismissed the Republican bill, arguing it could incentivize states to both ban IVF and defund Medicaid, a tactic she said Republican legislatures have long pursued.

The competing fertility bills underscore the partisan standoff on reproductive rights, with 13 states introducing fetal personhood bills that could affect IVF legality. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced that the Senate will focus on protecting reproductive rights in June, coinciding with the second anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe v. Wade. This move aims to force GOP senators to take a stand on contentious issues ahead of the election and keep abortion rights at the forefront.

This week, the Senate will also take up the Right to Contraception Act, designed to protect access to contraceptives and the ability of healthcare providers to offer them. The bill is expected to face significant opposition in the closely divided Senate, where most Republicans are likely to oppose it.

While Democrats strongly advocate for enshrining reproductive rights in law, the slim majority in Congress makes the passage of such legislation, including bills to protect IVF, uncertain. “My ultimate goal is to restore Roe v. Wade and obviously to protect doctors, to make sure that we have access to IVF, to make sure that doctors are not jailed for decisions they make that are medically appropriate,” Murray said at a news conference addressing the impact of the Dobbs decision on healthcare workers. “Every time, we’ve been rejected by Republicans.”

The legislative package reflects the ongoing efforts of Senate Democrats to safeguard reproductive healthcare services amid a political landscape marked by contentious debates over personal freedoms and healthcare rights. The outcome of these legislative efforts will have significant implications for the future of reproductive health and rights in the United States.