New Mexico Sen. Heinrich cosponsors legislation to protect IVF. Bill blocked by Mississippi senator.

Feb. 28—Federal legislation to establish a right to access in vitro fertilization was blocked in the Senate on Wednesday by Mississippi Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, a Republican.

New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich, a Democrat, cosponsored the Access to Family Building Act, which would establish a right to access IVF and other assisted reproductive technology services. Sens. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., sponsored the legislation, which gathered 12 cosponsors.

The Senate bill would also allow the Department of Justice to pursue civil action against states or government officials that violate its protections and create a right of action for health care providers in states with limited access to assisted reproductive technologies.

The bill was introduced in January, but Heinrich urged the Senate to pass the legislation immediately after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos can be considered children under that state's law.

The Alabama court decision could make clinics more vulnerable to lawsuits, and several IVF providers in Alabama have paused IVF treatments since the ruling was handed down, according to Associated Press reports.

"First, it was banning abortion. Then, it was restricting access to contraceptives. And now, it's threatening families' ability to grow their families through IVF. For Republicans, overturning Roe v. Wade was just the beginning of their agenda to roll back women's reproductive freedoms," Heinrich said in a statement.

The same bill was introduced by Rep. Susan Wild, D-Penn., in the House and has 33 cosponsors. It was referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Duckworth brought the bill to the Senate floor Wednesday with a unanimous consent request. If no senator had objected, the bill would have passed. Duckworth plans to ask for a traditional roll-call vote, forcing members of the Senate to take a public stance, Politico reported.

Duckworth shared her personal experience with IVF, which she used to conceive her two children.

IVF is used to help women who are having trouble getting pregnant. Eggs are retrieved from a woman, combined with sperm in a lab dish, and then the fertilized embryo is placed in the woman's uterus.

"IVF made our family. It made my heart full. It made my life full," Duckworth said. "But for countless women in Alabama, that desperately sought-after dream of becoming a mom just became a whole lot harder."

Hyde-Smith called the bill "a vast overreach that is full of poison pills that go way too far." She said the bill could legalize human cloning or "the creation of human-animal chimeras," and subject religious organizations to crippling lawsuits.

Duckworth disagreed with Hyde-Smith's interpretation of the legislation. She said the bill would not force anyone to cover or provide IVF.