Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) on Wednesday said Republicans were showing “casual cruelty” by not acting to strengthen reproductive health care like in vitro fertilization, and compared them to “arsonists.”
“Like arsonists opening a fire insurance business after they've set fires and that insurance doesn't actually cover fire damage, a couple of Republicans even proposed a messaging bill with a goal of misleading Americans into thinking that the GOP wants to protect IVF. In reality, of course, their legislation would do nothing to address the very tangible threat that IVF clinics and patients are facing right now,” Duckworth said at Senate Democrats’ weekly press conference that attempted to pressure Republicans ahead of a Thursday vote on a bill to establish a federal right to IVF access.
Duckworth lambasted the GOP as hypocrites for earlier this year blocking her bill to protect IVF access, while saying they support IVF protections in the wake of the Alabama Supreme Court briefly ruling that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law.
“By now, we've all witnessed the hypocrisy of Senate Republicans running to cable news stations proclaiming their love of IVF; then, once they step away from the TV cameras, doing absolutely nothing to ensure that it remains legal nationwide or becomes more affordable for American families,” Duckworth said. “No matter how hard they try to hide it, no matter how many tweets they send, the reality is that when it comes to women's health care, the GOP's casual cruelty cannot help but shine through.”
