NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The debate over the legal future of the fertility treatment, in vitro fertilization, has escalated after Republican Tennessee Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty voted down legislation that would have guaranteed access to IVF nationwide, despite emphasizing their support for IVF in recent days.
Both senators argued the legislation isn't necessary, and instead, is a political ploy by the Democrats ahead of the November election.
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Sen. Blackburn (R-TN) called the Right to IVF Act "a fake messaging bill," in the following statement issued to News 2:
“Democrats are using fear tactics and the media to lie to the American people with a fake messaging bill before November. IVF is legal and available in every state across our nation. I fully support IVF and fertility-related services. As a mother and a grandmother, I know how precious it is to be able to have children and rear a family. That is why I am fighting to make it easier for Tennesseans to be able to raise a family and why I oppose any effort to restrict access to IVF.”
However, some Democrats argued legislation guaranteeing IVF access is needed to protect the fertility treatment in case a scenario similar to what occurred in Alabama happens again. Earlier this year, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled embryos should be considered children, making anyone who destroys them in violation of the state's Wrongful Death of a Minor Act. The ruling prompted many IVF clinics to pause care for patients.
A day before Republicans voted down the Democrats' Right to IVF Act, the Democrats voted down a GOP-backed bill introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) that would have denied Medicaid funding for any state that bans IVF.
In Tennessee, Democratic lawmakers sponsored a bill that would have protected IVF and birth control on the state level last legislative session following the Alabama Supreme Court ruling. Kelli Nowers, executive director of AWAKE Tennessee, told lawmakers how she used IVF to conceive her two children while advocating for the bill earlier this year.
"If what happened in Alabama happened in Tennessee, and I was in the process that we were in a couple months ago, it would've been a completely different experience," Nowers told News 2 in an interview in March 2024.
The TN bill ultimately failed for similar reasons as the Right to IVF Act in Washington.
The Senate Republicans blocking the Right to IVF Act comes on the heels of the historic vote at the Southern Baptist Convention opposing IVF. While the resolution doesn't ban the fertility treatment, it does send a strong message from a group with considerable influence in politics.