(WOWT) – For the second time this year, senators from Nebraska and Iowa joined fellow Republicans in a vote against a bill to ensure the availability of fertility treatment, including in-vitro fertilization.
Tuesday’s final vote tally on S. 4445, termed the Right to IVF Act, was 48-47, largely along party lines. Once again, five senators abstained from voting; but this it was one Democrat, three Republicans, and one Independent.
The bill would establish a nationwide right for patients to access IVF and other assisted reproductive technologies and a right for doctors and insurance companies to provide it, an effort to pre-empt state efforts to limit the services. It would also require more health insurers to cover it and expand coverage for military service members and veterans.
Here’s how Nebraska and Iowa senators voted Tuesday:
- Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb.: NAY
- Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb.: NAY
- Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa: NAY
- Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa: NAY
Many Republicans have argued the vote is an election-year stunt. The Democratic push started earlier this year after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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