Results: US Senate IVF bill fails after Republicans block it, despite Trump support

A U.S. Senate bill aimed at enshrining federal protections and expanding insurance coverage for fertility treatments failed on Tuesday, as Republicans voted against it days after Donald Trump surprised supporters by voicing support for such a policy. The bill failed 51-44, falling short of the required 60-vote threshold after most Republicans voted against it for the second time. What is your opinion on the failure of the U.S. Senate bill aimed at expanding insurance coverage for fertility treatments?

Republican presidential candidate Trump said in August he would require the government or insurance companies to pay for IVF if he is elected, surprising some hardline Republicans for whom the treatment is controversial. Do you think fertility treatments, such as in vitro fertilization (IVF), should be covered by federal protections and insurance?

The bill's sponsor, Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth, first attempted to get a vote on the same bill in late February, after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled the embryos used in in vitro fertilization, or IVF, should be considered children, jeopardizing access to the treatment used by millions of Americans every year. Do you think embryos used in in vitro fertilization should be considered children?

"The freedom to get reproductive care is at risk for millions of other women whose most desperate hope in the world is to have a little one of their own," Duckworth, who had her two daughters via fertility treatments, said in a Senate floor speech after Tuesday's vote. "Republicans only seem to care about protecting life when it supposedly consists of some cells in a medical lab freezer." Do you agree with Senator Tammy Duckworth's statement that reproductive care is at risk for millions of women?

Ohio Senator and GOP vice presidential candidate JD Vance missed the Tuesday vote in the Senate. Vance appears to have been at a campaign rally in Sparta, Michigan, on Tuesday instead of attending the vote. Four other senators did not vote on Tuesday: Cory Booker, a Democrat from New Jersey; Joe Manchin, an independent from West Virginia; Mike Rounds, a Republican from South Dakota; and Thomas Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina. In June, a similar bill seeking to protect IVF was also shot down by Republicans in the Senate. Vance voted against the measure at the time. Do you think Vance should have been there to vote?