Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is seeking to corner Republicans by pushing a vote mirroring a proposal by Donald Trump to mandate insurance coverage of IVF treatments.
The bill is set to make it to the Senate floor over the next two weeks, Axios reported, citing a source familiar with the plans. It will be a re-vote on a bill Democrats pushed this summer but it is likely to be turned down by Republicans again despite Trump's stance.
The original one, sponsored by Sen. Tammy Duckworth, was killed in June. The new bill would establish the right to access IVF treatments and determine that public and private insurance companies cover the treatment. Only two Senate Republicans (Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski) favored the bill.
Prominent Senate Republicans did not endorse Trump's proposal this week. The former president did not specify how the proposal would work but said it would be covered by the government or insurance companies for "all Americans that need it" if he's elected.
"We're doing this because we just think it's great and we need great children, beautiful children in our country," Trump told NBC News. The issue took centerstage in American politics especially after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that embryos were considered people, leading clinics to pause IVF care given the complications that having to treat them as children would create.
From congresswomen dressing in white to show their support for abortion rights at the State of the Union, to reproductive rights advocates being invited by the First Lady, and even President Biden mentioning his plans to reinstall Roe v. Wade if he is re-elected with a Democratic Congress, the right to choose proved to be a top issue ahead of the November elections.
Since the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, most Republican-controlled states have placed new abortion restrictions, including 14 that ban it at every stage of pregnancy. Democrat-dominated states, on the other hand, have laws or executive orders to protect its access.
This year's election will likely prove to be a decisive moment for abortion in the U.S., as many states will take to the ballots the issue and decide whether or not to enshrine the right to choose.
© 2024 Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
