In late February, Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth attempted to advance the Access to Family Building Act, which would provide legal protection for in vitro fertilization at the national level. It failed in response to Republican opposition.
Two weeks later, Democratic Senator Patty Murray attempted to pass a bill to expand access to in vitro fertilization for military personnel and veterans. This too was derailed by Republican opposition.
Last Thursday, Senate Democrats tried again to pass legislation in this area, prioritizing the Right to IVF Act, which would ban states from imposing restrictions on treatments while also making IVF more affordable. It needed nearly a dozen Republican votes to advance. It received two: Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski and that of Maine Susan Collins voted with the Democratic majority, but the rest of their Republican colleagues rejected the bill.
A day later, one of the Republican senators who voted against the legislation unveiled a new ad as part of his re-election campaign. The New Republic noted:
On Friday, the far-right incumbent unveiled this 30-second commercial. Scott promoted the ad on social media, along with the caption: “Each of my seven grandchildren is a precious gift from God. But sometimes families need help. You can count on this grandpa to always protect IVF.”
It prompted Duckworth, the lead sponsor of the Right to IVF Act, to remind her Florida colleague: “You literally voted against my bill yesterday to protect IVF.”
As always, context matters. Scott has gone out of his way to present himself to the public as an IVF champion, and it is true that Republicans themselves have come up with alternative legislation regarding fertility treatments.
That said, it’s also true that the rival Republican bills don’t go nearly as far as the Democratic legislation — which received bipartisan support last week — in helping families. Furthermore, Scott must have realized that he was opening himself up to criticism by saying that the public can “always” count on him to protect IVF, literally the day after he voted against legislation protecting IVF.
Indeed, the Florida Republican could have voted with Collins and Murkowski to advance the bill — that would have failed anyway — but Scott voted no anyway.
The larger significance of this, of course, goes beyond the apparent hypocrisy of one senator and the disconnect between what the Republican Party says and what the Republican Party does on this issue: Scott’s ad also suggests that Republicans feel vulnerable when it comes to IVF as a campaign issue . Expect to see quite a few related ads from both parties between now and November.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
