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ICYMI: Senators Murray, Duckworth, Schumer, Baldwin, Klobuchar Lead Press Conference Denouncing Alabama IVF Decision, Calling for Passage of Legislation to Protect Right to IVF

ICYMI: New Legislation From Senators Murray, Duckworth Would Protect Right to Access IVF, Other Assisted Reproductive Technology in the Face of Republican Attacks

**VIDEO from Murrays floor speech HERE***

Washington, D.C. Today, U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), joined Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) in seeking unanimous consent to pass Murray and Duckworths Access to Family Building Act, which would protect every Americans right to access in vitro fertilization (IVF) and other assisted reproductive technology (ART) services that millions of Americans rely on to have children. U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) blocked passage of Murray and Duckworths bill.

Murray and Duckworth were joined on the floor by many of their Senate Democratic colleagues, all speaking in support of their bill. Murray and Duckworths latest push to pass their bill to protect IVF comes after the Alabama Supreme Court ruling on Friday that frozen embryos created through IVF are considered extrauterine children under state law, and calling for passage of legislation that would establish a statutory, nationwide right to access IVF treatment. The decision sparked concerns that embryos that are destroyed or damaged could lead to civil liability, which would have sweeping implications for fertility treatmentsince the ruling, at least three IVF providers in Alabama have suspended IVF services.

This isnt some surprisethe Alabama Supreme Court decision is Republican ideology in action, said Senator Murray on the floor. So, spare me the empty statements Unless youre actually going to work with us to protect IVFplease, save your breath women have had their dreams shattered because Republicans believe a frozen embryo kept in storage at an IVF clinic is the sameand should have the exact same rightsas a living, breathing, human person.

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, continued Senator Murray. You cannot support IVF and support fetal personhood laws. They are fundamentally incompatible! Instead of empty words, Democrats want to see actionand that is why just tried to pass the Access to Family Building Act. It doesnt get any more straightforward than that! And yet, just now, Republicans still blocked this billand showed their true colors when it comes to IVF.

In her floor speech, Senator Murray forcefully denounced the Alabama ruling and the far-right ideology of fetal personhood underlying the decisionan ideology supported by many Republican politicians that has terrifying consequences for the humanity and rights of pregnant women and could put an end to peoples ability to build families through IVF. IVF is overwhelmingly popular with Americansrecent polling found that 85 percent of Americans support increasing access to fertility-related procedures and services. A survey from Pew Research Center in September found that 42 percent of adults say they have used fertility treatments or personally know someone who hadup from 33 percent five years ago.

Just last month, Murray and Duckworth introduced their Access to Family Building Act, which would protect every Americans right to access IVF and other assisted reproductive technology (ART) services that millions of Americans rely on to have children. Building on the Right to Build Families Act the lawmakers had introduced in the previous Congress, the new legislation would establish a statutory right to access IVF and other ART services, thereby pre-empting any state effort to limit such access and ensuring no hopeful parentor their doctorsare punished for trying to start or grow their family.

After the Supreme Courts disastrous Dobbs ruling, many women have not only seen their constitutional right to abortion ripped away from them as a result of state abortion bans, but their ability to get treatment for cancer, lupus and moreand to access IVF and other assisted reproductive technology in order to build a familyare also under threat. The new patchwork of state abortion bans has created significant confusion among patients and providers alike about what services doctors can and cannot provide in states with the most restrictive laws, leading IVF centers to call for new protections.

Senator Murray is a longtime leader in the fight to protect and expand access to reproductive health care and, after the Supreme Courts decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization overturning Roe v. Wade, Murray has led Congressional efforts to fight back. Murray has introduced more than a dozen pieces of legislation to protect reproductive rights from further attacks, protect providers, and help ensure women get the care they need and repeatedly sought unanimous consent to pass common-sense bills to protect womens fundamental freedoms; she also co-leads the Womens Health Protection Act, which would restore the right to abortion nationwide, and has been leading Congressional efforts to make over-the-counter birth control affordable. In January, Senator Murray led Senate Democrats in hosting a briefing on the State of Abortion Rights across America, where senators heard powerful testimony from individuals who had been personally harmed by Republicans abortion bans.

Senator Murrays full floor speech, as delivered, is below:

I have said before that Republican attacks on reproductive freedom would never stop with Roethey would never stop with abortion.

I have said before, 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 surprisedsuddenly acting like they had no idea this could happen, suddenly acting like this was totally unforeseenwhen it is exactly what we have been warning about, and exactly what the far right has been working towards for decades.

This isnt some surprisethe Alabama Supreme Court decision is Republican ideology in action.

So, spare me the empty statementsespecially after the objection that we just saw here. Unless youre actually going to work with us to protect IVFsave your breath.

There are women in Alabama who desperately want to start a familywomen who have tried for years to get pregnant, 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 theyve been throughthe hope and disappointment, the thousands, 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 sameand should have the exact same rightsas a living, breathing, human person.

Thats not hyperbole. That is not hypothetical. That is what is happening.

You dont have to imagine how painful this isyou 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, prevents her from safely 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 stateeven 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, its completely just derailed a lot of hope.

Kayla Lee spent nine years and eighty thousand dollars trying to have a child. Shes gone through several miscarriages and she was days awaydays away!from getting a viable embryo transferred. But instead of getting an embryo transplanted, she got the same heartbreaking phone callher 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 dont? They dont knowright now, no one knows.

The anger, Madam President. The anguish. The stories of these women are heartbreaking.

As IVF patient, Kelly Belmont, put it: Weve 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 childrenits absolutely terrifying Im just trying to hold myself together emotionally.

So powerful.

I dont know how anyone can listen to these stories, and still think politicians should be making womens health care decisions for them. I really dont.

Now, I said earlier, Republicans are acting surprised by the result of the very policies they have pushed forthey can save their breath. Thats 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. You cannot support IVF and support fetal personhood laws. They are fundamentally incompatible!

Madam President, instead of empty words, Democrats want to see actionand that is why just tried to pass the Access to Family Building Act.

It doesnt get any more straightforward than that!

And yet, just now, Republicans still blocked this billand showed their true colors when it comes to IVF.

I am frustrated, Madam President. But I am not done fighting.

Because I know Americans are watchingand they will not forget who is standing with families, in Alabama and across the countryand who is standing in their way.

###

Read more from the original source:
Senate Republicans Block Murray and Duckworth Bill to Protect IVF After Flurry of Republican Statements Expressing ... - Senator Patty Murray

Nikki Haley won the Republican primary in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, logging her first victory after a string of losses to former President Donald J. Trump who responded bitterly on social media, saying he had purposely avoided the contest because it is the Swamp.

Ms. Haley received about 63 percent of the vote to Mr. Trumps 33 percent, according to The Associated Press, securing all 19 available delegates and becoming the first woman ever to win a Republican presidential primary. But Mr. Trump remains well positioned to lock down the nomination later this month.

The contest in Washington was tiny: Just over 2,000 Republicans voted in the overwhelmingly Democratic city, compared with 110,000 in Iowa, 325,000 in New Hampshire and 757,000 in South Carolina.

Ms. Haley seemed to acknowledge that in a post on X. Thank you, DC! she wrote. We fight for every inch.

But Mr. Trump could not let that inch go. On his social media site, he claimed falsely that Ms. Haley had spent all of her time, money and effort there. He never used her name, referring to her repeatedly by his disparaging Birdbrain nickname.

Ms. Haley sought to play the symbolism of Washington not exactly Republicans favorite place to her advantage, writing, Republicans closest to Washingtons dysfunction know that Donald Trump has brought nothing but chaos and division for the past 8 years.

Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for Mr. Trump, said in a statement that Ms. Haley was just crowned Queen of the Swamp by the lobbyists and D.C. insiders that want to protect the failed status quo.

The race now turns to the 15 states that will hold Republican contests on Super Tuesday, March 5. While it is not mathematically possible for Mr. Trump to lock up the nomination just yet, he could come very close with strong performances on Super Tuesday and position himself to do so within the next couple of weeks.

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Nikki Haley Defeats Trump in 2024 Washington, D.C., GOP Primary - The New York Times

With nine months before Senate Republicans select their new leader to succeed Senator Mitch McConnell, some are acknowledging the shadow of one figure outside Congress who looms over the race: former President Donald J. Trump.

Hes the Republican front-runner; hes going to have a voice in it, Senator Mike Rounds, Republican of South Dakota, said on ABCs This Week on Sunday. The former president will have the opportunity to influence a number of my colleagues, but we also want to be able to have a good working relationship with him if he becomes the next president of the United States.

It was a reminder of Mr. Trumps potential ability to make or break any senators bid for the post atop the Senate Republican conference. And it underscored a political reality that Mr. McConnell acknowledged in announcing his decision last week to step away from leadership that the partys base, deeply committed to Mr. Trump, had so firmly taken over that Mr. McConnell, who does not speak to the former president, could not tenably remain its leader.

Senators John Cornyn of Texas and John Thune of South Dakota, two contenders in the race, have been critical of Mr. Trump, though they have both endorsed him in his 2024 campaign in recent weeks. A third John, Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming, the No. 3 Senate Republican, may also jump into the race. He has maintained close ties to Mr. Trump and positioned himself to the right of Mr. Cornyn and Mr. Thune.

Senator Markwayne Mullin, Republican of Oklahoma, suggested on Sunday that Mr. Trump should stay out of the race.

Its a lose-lose situation, Mr. Mullin, who is backing Mr. Thune, said on CNNs State of the Union. He needs to work with whatever leader is there, and let me tell you, whatever leaders there understands that theyre going to have to work with President Trump, too. So its really not in his best interest to lean in the race at this point.

But he acknowledged Mr. Trumps potential influence, adding, However, if he chooses to do it, it will make a difference.

Mr. Rounds emphasized that Senate Republicans would make their own decisions on whom to elect as their new leader and on when to buck the former president.

Weve got a lot of independent thinkers, he said, noting that he was looking for a leader who would be willing to stand up to Mr. Trump.

I want someone who will work with the president but also will stand his own ground, Mr. Rounds, who supports Mr. Thunes bid, said, adding that he believed Mr. Thune would be independent enough where he will look out just like Mitch did for the institution of the Senate itself.

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Republicans Nod to Trump's Influence in Race to Succeed McConnell - The New York Times

Nikki Haley lately has been making the case that former President Donald J. Trump has transformed the Republican Party into his personal playpen. In media appearances and at rallies as she crisscrosses the country leading up to Super Tuesday this week, she has argued that Mr. Trump has installed loyalists in key party positions and pushed for changes in primary rules to serve himself.

Ms. Haley has suggested that the Republican National Committee is at risk of becoming his legal slush fund for the four criminal cases he is facing. She has sounded the alarm over losses Republicans have incurred up and down the ballot, with candidates championed by Mr. Trump. And she has even hedged her responses on whether she would endorse the Republican nominee if he wins.

We are in a ship with a hole in it that hole is Donald Trump, she declared Wednesday to loud cheers at a performing arts theater near Salt Lake City. This new approach is a sharp turn from the more calibrated tone she employed for most of the Republican nominating contest.

When she jumped into the race last year, becoming the first major challenger to Mr. Trump, Ms. Haley, who served as his United Nations ambassador, took only vague swipes at her former boss, promising to move beyond the stale ideas and faded names of the past. She tended to mention him only when asked, mixing criticism with praise, a tack that made her a reluctant messenger for the small but not insignificant portion of Republicans seeking an alternative to the former president.

Now, after a streak of losses to Mr. Trump (and a small victory in Washington, D.C.s primary), she is grappling with his endurance among her partys base. The discomfort with her position neither all in, nor entirely against is not a new one for Ms. Haley or other Republicans, but it reflects the existential question they face.

Its also one that she struggled with even before she joined his administration. According to one of her memoirs, Ms. Haley canceled an appearance on NBCs Today Show the morning after the 2016 presidential election because she was unprepared to discuss the topic of the day: what Mr. Trumps unexpected victory could mean for the future of the Republican Party.

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Haley Is Still Struggling to Deal With Trump's Grip on Their Party - The New York Times

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Joshua Feuerstein, a Forney Republican, met with Gov. Greg Abbotts campaign team on a Zoom call, seeking an endorsement in his primary challenge to Rep. Keith Bell.

Feuerstein said hed support the governors voucher legislation. Bell, R-Forney, was among the 21 House Republicans who blocked Abbotts priority voucher bill from passing into law last year.

They told me I was the perfect candidate, Feuerstein told The Texas Tribune. But no endorsement ever came.

After Abbott lost his hard-fought battle to pass vouchers last year, he vowed to rain fire on the primary campaigns of nearly two dozen fellow Republicans in the Texas House who defied his demands and joined with Democrats to block passage of his biggest priority.

And Abbott largely made good on his promise, making an unprecedented effort to unseat the disloyal, spending $4.4 million in the past month against incumbent House members and appearing repeatedly in their districts to endorse their opponents.

But, with the March 5 election just a few days away, six anti-voucher House GOP incumbents have managed to sidestep Abbotts wrath.

Reps. Bell, Justin Holland, Charlie Geren, Reggie Smith, Jay Dean and Ken King face a colorful slate of opponents who are solidly on Abbotts side of the voucher fight.

But none of those challengers have gotten the coveted Abbott nod, leaving many of them wondering, Why not me? as they watch other pro-voucher primary candidates enjoy the spoils of Abbotts lavish financial backing and star power.

@GregAbbott_TX ?? Vanished, Feuerstein wrote on X recently. Funny thing I inherited all of the school choice enemies and not a single dollar of support!

Abbotts campaign did not respond to emailed questions about how he makes his endorsement decisions or why a handful of pro-voucher candidates didnt make the cut.

For at least one of those races, theres a personal history to contend with.

Smith, of Sherman, is fighting his second primary challenge from Shelley Luther, a Dallas salon owner who was jailed in 2020 for defying Abbotts COVID-19-era business shut down. Her stand gave her national attention at Abbotts expense, setting off an avalanche of criticism from Republicans over the shut down. She went on to run for Texas Senate that year, calling Abbott a tyrant governor.

Luther could not be reached for comment for this story but she previously told the Tribune she would have welcomed Abbotts endorsement, even though he has twice denied her the privilege.

Gov. Abbott has courageously led the fight for more parental empowerment in education and I would be honored to fight alongside him to finally deliver this critical legislation, Luther wrote in an email.

But trash talking the governor didnt disqualify Brent Money, who earned Abbotts endorsement in the North Texas race to replace expelled Rep. Bryan Slaton, R-Royse City. Money has repeatedly bashed Abbott over the border and much like the unendorsed Luther on his policies about COVID. And days before Abbotts contested primary in February 2022, Money called Abbott weak and spineless in a tweet comparing him to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Abbott uses a wheelchair due to a 1984 accident that crushed his spine and paralyzed him from the waist down. Moneys tweet has since been deleted. Money is facing off against Jill Dutton. Both candidates say theyre pro-voucher.

Also getting the snub was Katrina Pierson, a Fox news personality and spokesperson for former President Donald Trump who is challenging Holland. Pierson did not respond to requests for comment.

Holland said he wonders if the reason his race was spared was because of his historically good relationship with Abbotts office, one that was protected last session when he was in constant communication with Abbott while he carried critical legislation to continue agencies such as the Public Utility Commission and ERCOT.

With the force that he came out against my colleagues who voted the same exact way that I did, I did wonder if he was going to [get involved], Holland said in an interview. I don't know why he left me alone, but I like to attribute it to my relationships with people inside the [Capitol] building. And maybe I'm completely naive or wrong in that, but I tried to build and maintain good relationships, including with the governor's office.

Joe McDaniel, an East Texas businessman challenging Dean, said he chose to run against the Longview Republican because of what he described as a liberal voting record, including his school voucher vote. He said in an email to the Tribune that he looks forward to championing School Choice if elected, but that he doesnt know why Abbott has remained silent. Deans campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

You should probably direct that question to Abbott, he said in the email. I have zero control in what the Gov. does.

Five of the primary challengers have won endorsements from Attorney General Ken Paxton, who vowed to work against Republicans who voted last year to impeach him over corruption charges, of which he was later acquitted by the Senate. Like many of the incumbents theyre challenging, they claim hard-right positions on issues such as immigration, abortion, and the border.

And many of them have gotten considerable funding from pro-voucher forces like the Family Empowerment Coalition PAC, or through a PAC funded by West Texas oil billionaire Tim Dunn, a Paxton supporter and conservative activist. Others are struggling: One challenger, Bonnie Walters, has reported no funding or major endorsements at all in her challenge to Dean.

However, Abbotts endorsement seems to carry more weight at the voting booth than Paxtons, according to a poll earlier this year by the University of Houston.

One reason Abbott might be staying out of some of the races is that he doesnt want to back a candidate who is unable to win against an incumbent considered too difficult to beat.

Abbott is often rumored to be preparing for a run for higher office, and so the stakes are high in terms of how strongly he can control and influence voters, said Renee Cross, senior executive director of the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston, which ran the endorsement poll. A few years ago, he backed a handful of primary opponents for incumbent House Republicans and only won half of them.

Hes going to want this to be a success, she said. You do have to draw the line at some point. He is being very strategic and cautious because these decisions are being made most likely with more than just the next [legislative] session in mind. If he is looking to run for a different office in the future, backing some of these folks could be detrimental to him.

Republican primary voters in Gerens moderate Fort Worth district, for example, have sent him to Austin 12 times in spite of repeated attacks from pro-voucher forces and other hard-right groups. He didnt have a primary opponent in the last two cycles. Geren is also in House leadership, along with Smith and King, showing there may be a limit to how much Abbott is willing to test his relationship in the lower chamber.

In the most recent campaign finance reporting period, opponent Jack Reynolds, an adjunct professor and a math teacher at a public high school, raised $5,498 just 2% of what Geren took in. He has been endorsed by Paxton but no other statewide officials, according to his campaign site.

Reynolds said he wasnt surprised when Abbotts campaign, after meeting with him for a potential endorsement, decided not to spend his resources in a race where the incumbent has an iron grip on this district and where an unknown like him has an uphill battle.

I can certainly understand the governors position, he told the Tribune in an interview. I think asking him to crawl out on this limb with me was a bit much, but it was close. I think they gave it some serious consideration.

He views Abbotts silence on him as more of a reflection on Geren, whom the governor has endorsed in the past. That says something, Reynolds said. This is a governor who has lost a lot of confidence in Charlie Geren.

And in other cases where Abbott didnt endorse, the candidate in question may simply be too politically radioactive or controversial for Abbott to risk his money and reputation, said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston.

If you're going to come at an incumbent Republican from the right, you're probably going to be very far right, oftentimes in the fringe, Rottinghaus said. So that's a risk that the governor would be taking if he endorses candidates who seem to be at the margins in terms of their politics, or who have other kinds of personal baggage that can be used against them.

Feuerstein, who offered to take a militia to the Texas-Mexico border and whose viral videos included a 2015 rant about how the red cups used by Starbucks constituted a war on Christmas, said he thinks he intimidates the political establishment. Feuerstein said he was recruited to run by Paxton.

Paxtons the only one whos kept his word, he wrote. I scare the establishment, he said. They know they cant control me. Im loud and I dont play by the rules. They want polished cadets and Im a Wild West gunslinger.

But Feuerstein says hes not bothered by the lack of support from the top because thats not the support he needs to get to Austin.

Its not an Abbott endorsement Im seeking, he wrote in a text. He doesnt vote in our election. Its the everyday American Im seeking to endorse me with their vote. Thats what matters!

State Rep. Ernest Bailes, R-Shepherd, who killed an 11th-hour attempt during the regular session to shove a voucher bill through the House without a public hearing, said he thinks Abbotts decision-making is personal at least in his case.

Bailes is one of Abbotts top primary targets, having openly defied the governor on several occasions over the issue of vouchers, both in person and in public statements.

Im happy for them, he said of the incumbents who were spared. I consider every one of those guys my friends. Maybe those guys didn't speak up as vocally against what his top priority was, and I did. I don't do well at playing politics. My priority is to do the absolute best job that I can and vote for my district, and then come home be the husband, father and businessman that I need to be at home.

Disclosure: University of Houston has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

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The anti-voucher House Republicans spared from Abbotts wrath - The Texas Tribune