Senate Republicans blocked federal protections for IVF. Here’s how MO, KS voted

Republicans from Kansas and Missouri on Thursday blocked a bill offering federal protections for in-vitro fertilization, as Democrats are ramping up their efforts to pin Republicans down on abortion rights ahead of the November election.

The bill, which failed 48-47 with all but two Republicans voting against it, would have preempted any state law that forbids the use of IVF.

Democrats expected the vote to fail, using it as part of a larger messaging campaign accusing Republicans of trying to restrict women’s rights. Last week, the Democrats offered legislation to grant federal protections for access to birth control that also failed to pass the Senate.

Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican running for reelection, characterized the bill as part of a larger messaging push by Democrats to focus on an issue they think helps turn out voters.

“I’m not gonna vote for the Democrats version because it’ll have all of this abortion related language in it,” Hawley said ahead of the vote. “I’m for IVF and we ought to leave it alone and certainly not get rid of it. In Missouri IVF is widely available, protected in law, that’s how it should be.”

Democrats have aggressively campaigned on abortion rights in the aftermath of the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that eliminated federal protections for abortion as Republicans, who once eagerly campaigned on the issue, have struggled to come up with a consistent message.

Republicans like Hawley, who is up for reelection this November, have repeatedly said they believe the abortion rights are best left up to voters in the states. But that message has been complicated by anti-abortion advocates who continue to push for federal limits.

Hawley has co-sponsored a bill that would ban the procedure after 15-weeks, saying he believes there is national consensus on when the procedure should be banned. And he was in the Supreme Court to support his wife, Erin Morrow Hawley, as she argued a case that would limit the use of mifepristone, a commonly used abortion medication.

Democrats have also seized on an Alabama Supreme Court ruling in February declaring fertilized embryos are people and throwing access to IVF in the state into question. While the Alabama legislature quickly passed a law to protect IVF, Democrats have continued to use the court’s ruling to highlight how far some Republicans would go in the name of limiting abortion.

Lucas Kunce, Hawley’s likely Democratic opponent, immediately criticized Hawley after the vote. He said the federal protections are necessary because Missouri has a similar law that says life begins at conception, which could be used to limit IVF.

“Josh claims to be ‘100% pro-IVF’ but he’s really just 100% full of (expletive) ,” Kunce said.

The vote came the same day the Supreme Court protected access to mifepristone, ruling that a group of doctors didn’t have the legal standing to overrule the Food and Drug Administration’s decision to allow the abortion medication to be prescribed without an in-person doctor visit and for the pills to be sent in the mail.

The White House issued a statement from President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris after the ruling, saying the lawsuit against medication abortion is part of a larger attempt to ban the procedure across the country.

“Today’s decision does not change the fact that the fight for reproductive freedom continues. It does not change the fact that the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago, and women lost a fundamental freedom,” the statement said. “It does not change the fact that the right for a woman to get the treatment she needs is imperiled if not impossible in many states.”

How they voted

Here’s how members voted on a procedural vote on S. 4445, a bill that would offer federal protections for in-vitro fertilization. A yes vote means the lawmaker wanted to move forward with the legislation. A no vote means the lawmaker wanted to block the legislation from being considered. The bill needed 60 votes to move forward.

Kansas

Sen. Roger Marshall — No

Sen. Jerry Moran — No

Missouri

Sen. Josh Hawley — No

Sen. Eric Schmitt — Not voting