Senator Ted Cruz (Texas), a staunchly anti-abortion Republican, this week introduced a bill that he says aims to protect in vitro fertilization (IVF), the latest sign that the Republican Party feels vulnerable in terms of reproductive rights and is trying to strengthen itself. against Democratic attacks.
Cruz is facing a reelection battle against well-funded Democratic Rep. Colin Allred (Texas), who quickly went on the attack, accusing Cruz of trying to cover up his record.
“Let’s be clear: Ted Cruz’s longtime support for an extreme abortion ban, which now threatens in vitro fertilization, is why we are here,” Allred said in a statement.
In the wake of the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that concluded that embryos are children and therefore protected under the state’s wrongful death statute, Republicans have come out publicly to say they fully support in vitro fertilization.
Cruz and Sen. Katie Britt’s (R-Ala.) legislation would cut off Medicaid funding for any state that bans IVF, while also ensuring that organizations or health care providers within states are not required to provide access.
In a Wall Street Journal article announcing the project, Cruz and Britt said their goal is to clear up the “confusion and misinformation” spread by the decision, which has alarmed prospective parents who fear losing access to the procedure and the chance to have children.
IVF is “incredibly pro-family,” Cruz said in an interview with Bloomberg News on Monday. “Our bill is very simple and very focused, and it is designed to protect IVF.”
In the same interview, Britt said the bill was necessary because of people who are trying to “promote fear” on the issue, and the goal of the legislation is to protect families’ ability to “bring life into this world.”
But Cruz did not respond to the question about whether he thinks an embryo created through in vitro fertilization is a human life.
Since the court’s February ruling, Republicans have largely avoided the question at the heart of the issue: If they believe life begins at conception, how should clinics handle viable embryos that don’t implant?
During IVF treatments, multiple eggs are often collected, fertilized, and then frozen to increase the chances of successful implementation and pregnancy. If an embryo is not viable, if genetic abnormalities are identified, or if a patient does not wish to have any more children, common medical practice is to discard them.
Texas Republican strategist Brendan Steinhauser said he believes Cruz is not in danger of losing the Republican base, so he doesn’t need to answer those tough questions. He said the senator may spend some political capital to try to appeal to independents and swing voters — specifically college-educated suburban women who voted for former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D) in 2018.
“Like 90 percent of Republicans are with him and 90 percent of Democrats are against him no matter what,” Steinhauser said. “This action suggests that he thinks those [swing voters] they are in dispute, they are important and it is worth entering this debate to compete there.”
Reproductive health advocates have noted that future outright bans on IVF are unlikely.
Even Alabama never banned IVF after the ruling, although some clinics stopped providing the service due to legal uncertainty.
States that legally consider embryos to be people will likely impose regulations that prevent doctors from using current medically accepted methods. And Cruz and Britt’s legislation makes clear that states will be able to impose “health and safety standards” on the practice of in vitro fertilization.
Sawyer Hackett, a Democratic strategist and senior adviser to a super PAC dedicated to defeating Cruz, said the bill was carefully crafted to “fake” support for in vitro fertilization without alienating the Republican base.
“No one believes this is anything more than a vulnerable Republican trying to save face on the issue of abortion rights,” Hackett said.
The bill creates an incentive for politicians not to pass legislation banning in vitro fertilization, but it would not prevent a court from restricting the procedure, as happened in Alabama.
“Ironically, they created this because they see the vulnerability of [the] Alabama ruling, but in reality, the bill would not even protect access to IVF in Alabama,” Hackett said.
Democrats said that if Cruz and Britt wanted to show support for IVF, they would support legislation from Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and others that would create federal protections for IVF.
“Encouraging far-right, anti-choice lawmakers in deep red states to reduce health care funding for low-income Americans will not stop them from also banning in vitro fertilization,” Duckworth said in a statement. “Americans will not be fooled by this transparently counterproductive effort.”
Cruz told Bloomberg that Duckworth’s legislation was actually a secret attempt to allow the federal government to block abortion bans.
Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) blocked consideration of the bill in March.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
