Yesterday, Senate Republicans blocked a controversial IVF bill that was designed to grant sweeping rights to artificial reproductive technology, otherwise known as ART.
The Democrat-sponsored bill, called the Right to IVF Act, was first introduced in the summer after an Alabama court ruled that embryos are children and deserve protection under the law. To counter fertility treatment restrictions in Alabama, Democrats introduced the IVF bill, which Republicans have since deemed too broad.
Family Research Council president Tony Perkins addressed the issue in a letter saying that the bill’s deceptive name and “expansive language…could go far beyond in vitro fertilization.”
According to Perkins, the bill would grant the fertility industry the right to “buy, sell, destroy, or otherwise dispose of any human embryos created from ART” both in public and private healthcare settings.
But Democrats see the conservative concern as a political issue. Democrats argue that if Republicans truly cared about families and their ability to have children, they would approve the bill.