Senator Rick Scott, a Republican from Florida, was under pressure after voting to block legislation to establish a national right to in vitro fertilization.
Republicans on Tuesday again blocked the Right to IVF Act, sponsored by Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth. The vote was the latest effort by Democrats to highlight policy differences between Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, and her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, ahead of the November election.
The 51 to 44 vote fell short of the 60 votes needed to move forward on the bill, with only two Republican-Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska – voting in favor. Democrats said that Republicans who claim to support IVF are hypocrites by refusing to support legislation that guarantees a right to it. Some Republicans dismissed the bill as a publicity stunt by Democrats.
Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images
Many took to social media to criticize Scott after Tuesday’s vote.
“Rick Scott just voted NO to IVF-AGAIN protection. A fraud is always a fraud,” Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a former Democratic congresswoman who is running to unseat Scott in November, wrote on X.
“Floridians know he’s lying when he says he’s going to protect IVF, and he just proved it again. He’s trying to confront Floridians, and in November we’re going to vote him out.”
Ashley Gantt, a Democratic member of the Florida House, wrote: “@SenRickScott blocked IVF protection. When people show you who they are, believe them.”
Another person wrote: “Rick Scott just voted against the right to IVF….YET. What happened @ScottforFlorida??? I think I could count on this grandpa to protect IVF!!”
In a statement, the chairman of the Florida Democratic Party, Nikki Fried, said: “Rick Scott has again voted against protecting access to IVF – a miracle treatment that has allowed millions of Americans to start families
“He continues to lie to Floridians about his bogus support for IVF, but Scott’s toxic anti-choice record is clear. He will stop at nothing to wrest personal decisions from women and their families, and the Floridians will hold them accountable in November.”
Newsweek contacted Scott’s office for comment via email.
Scott faced similar backlash in June after releasing an ad showing his support for IVF hours after he first voted against the IVF Bill of Rights.
The Right to IVF Act would establish a national right for patients to access IVF and other assisted reproductive technologies and would require insurance companies to cover the procedure.
The push by Democrats began earlier this year after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos could be considered children under state law, which led to several clinics in the state suspending treatments of IVF until the GOP-led legislature enacted a law to provide legal protection for the state. clinics.
On Monday, Scott urged senators to vote for his Law of Increasing Value for Families with HSAs (Health Savings Accounts), noting in a speech on the floor that his daughter is currently receiving IVF treatment.
He later blamed Democrats for blocking the bill, saying in a statement that “the real-world impact of my bill is that millions of Americans will be able to save more money in tax-free accounts to pay for medical expenses like IVF”.
He added: “If the Democrats and the Senate are serious about ensuring opportunities for families, we can start today to allow this good bill to pass. Unfortunately, the Democrats refused to do it today.”
Tonight, I asked the Senate to pass my IVF with HSA Act, but the Democrats blocked it.
IVF is so important, and for me, it’s personal. My daughter is using IVF now to raise her family. I will continue to fight to get it passed in the Senate, then sent to the House, where I am… pic.twitter.com/3rm2L0A6hl
– Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) September 17, 2024
Republican Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Katie Britt of Alabama also tried to pass a bill, known as the IVF Protection Act, that would threaten to withhold Medicaid funding for states where IVF is forbidden
Cruz, who is running for re-election, he said Democrats held up the vote on their bill “to raise unfounded fears about IVF and push their broader political agenda.”
Democratic senator Patty Murray criticized Cruz and Britt’s bill as a “show-bill” that does “nothing meaningful” to protect IVF access.
“I’ve been perfectly clear about the glaring problem with this Republican bill,” Murray said in a speech on the Senate floor.
“The cold, hard reality is that this Republican bill does nothing to meaningfully protect IVF from the biggest threats from lawmakers and anti-abortion extremists across the country. It could also allow states to regulate IVF out of existence the fetal person, which is the greatest threat to IVF”.
Full list of Republicans who voted against the IVF Bill
Forty-four Republicans voted against the right to IVF act. Republican vice-presidential candidate and Ohio senator JD Vance, who is on the campaign trail, missed the vote. Sens. Mike Rounds of South Dakota and Thom Tillis of North Carolina also did not vote.
John Barrasso (R-WY)
Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)
John Boozman (R-AR)
Mike Braun (R-IN)
Katie Boyd Britt (R-AL)
Ted Budd (R-NC)
Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV)
Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
John Cornyn (R-TX)
Tom Cotton (R-AR)
Kevin Cramer (R-ND)
Mike Crapo (R-ID)
Ted Cruz (R-TX)
Steve Daines (R-MT)
Joni Ernst (R-IA)
Deb Fischer (R-NE)
Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
Bill Hagerty (R-TN)
Josh Hawley (R-MO)
John Hoeven (R-ND)
Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS)
Ron Johnson (R-WI)
John Kennedy (R-LA)
James Lankford (R-OK)
Mike Lee (R-UT)
Cynthia Lummis (R-WY)
Roger Marshall (R-KS)
Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Jerry Moran (R-KS)
Markwayne Mullin (R-OK)
Rand Paul (R-KY)
Pete Ricketts (R-NE)
James Risch (R-ID)
Mitt Romney (R-UT)
Marco Rubio (R-FL)
Eric Schmitt (R-MO)
Rick Scott (R-FL)
Tim Scott (R-SC)
Dan Sullivan (R-AK)
John Thune (R-SD)
Tommy Tuberville (R-AL)
Roger Wicker (R-MS)
Todd Young (R-IN)