This Could additionally now not Reduction Republicans In November…

I'm begging my colleagues to help me passmy Access to Family Building Act, a bill that would ensure that every American'sright to become a parent via treatments like IVF is fully protected, regardless ofwhat state they live in, helping guarantee that no hopeful parent or doctor in thiscountry can be held criminally liable for starting or growing a family through IVF. – Reserving the right to object.- The Senator from Mississippi. The bill before us today is a vastoverreach that is full of poison pills that go way too far, far beyond ensuringlegal access to IVF, creating rights to human cloning, the genetic engineeringof human embryos and surrogacy.

Is too extreme and goes far beyond IVF. This bill misses the mark. Republicans have blockedthis bill to protect IVF. Now remember that for all of theirtalk about supporting IVF, when it came down to it right here in this chamber,Republicans blocked IVF protection. After a decadestruggling with infertility. After my service in Iraq,I was only able to get pregnant through the miracle of IVF. IVF is the reason I get to experiencethe chaos and the beauty,.

The stress and the joy that is motherhood. IVF is the reason that my husband and Iaren't just Tammy and Brian, but we're mom and dad. IVF made our family.It made my heart whole. It made my life full. But for countless women in Alabamathat desperately sought after dream of becoming a mom just became so much harder. Last week that state's Supreme Court ruledthat frozen embryos created through IVF should be considered children under statelaw, a ruling that paints women like me.

And our doctors as criminalsand one that throws IVF access into chaos. As countless women and doctorstry to figure out whether they might be criminalizedfor simply trying to create a family. If you're thinkingthat this makes no sense, you're right. You're not misunderstanding anything.You're not missing something. It's the nightmarish blend of hypocrisyand misogyny that you think it is. The very people who claimto be defending family values are the ones trying to enact dystopian policiesthat would prevent Americans from starting their own families.

It's a little personal. When a majority male state Supreme courtsuggests that people like me, who became parents with the help of modern medicine,should be in jail cells and not nurseries. And I know I'm not the only onewho struggles to understand how elected representatives who back these kindsof policies can call themselves members of the so-called party of Life. No rulings like this one, and the billswith the same intent that are being pushed forward in state legislatures aroundthe country, are not about being pro-life. They're about catering to an extremistbase by exerting even more control.

Over women's bodies, inserting politiciansinto some of the most intimate, personal decisions anyone could ever make. The overturning of Roe is what madelast week's ruling even possible, as it stripped women of a constitutional right,transferring the power to decide whether or when to start families from USto politicians in statehouses across the country, Donald Trump is the one who bragsabout taking down Roe v Wade. Donald Trump is the one who actsas if that's something to be proud of. So while it may now be convenientfor him to claim that he had nothing to do with what happened in Alabama,we know the truth.

IVF is at risk because of him. He is to blame him and every other GOPofficial who shamelessly kisses his ring, proving with every word they saythat they care more about protecting his poll numbersthan protecting Americans freedoms. The reality is, 1 in 4 married womenhave difficulty getting pregnant or carrying a pregnancy to tum. That number doesn't even includepartnerless Americans or other families also trying to have kids. That's 1 in 4 in red states and in bluestates, in big cities and rural towns,.

In the wealthiest neighborhoods of thepoorest and in the poorest of zip codes. Because infertility doesn'tdiscriminate between party lines, it doesn't recognize state borders. No one should feelthat someone else's religious beliefs or partizan slants could rob them of theirchance to get pregnant, and no doctor should have to risk a criminal recordjust to provide women basic health care. So to my Republican colleagues,please think about how many that 1 in 4 equates to in your state. Women willing to go through expensive,painful medical treatments just.

For a chance to experience the smallest,most banal moments of parenthood. Just to have a newborn to swaddle a babywhose diaper needs to be changed. A toddlerwho needs their shoes to be tied. And if you believe that they havethe right to be called mom without also being called a criminal, then all you haveto do to prove it is to let us pass. This should be obvious legislation. Madam president, I support the abilityfor mothers and fathers to have total access to IVFand bringing new life into the world. I also believe human lifeshould be protected.

These are not mutually exclusive. Let's be clear aboutwhat the Alabama case is about. This was a case brought by familieswhose human embryos were killed when an unauthorized individual walked intothe fertility clinic through an unsecured door, removed several human embryosand dropped them, causing their deaths. The court's holding in favor ofthe parents found that these frozen human embryos are children under Alabama law. It did not ban IVF, nor has any state banned IVF.

The bill before us today is a vastoverreach that is full of poison pills that go way too far. Far beyond ensuring legal access to IVF,the act explicitly waives the Religious Freedom Restoration Actand would subject religious and pro-life organizations to crippling lawsuits. Religious and pro-life organizationscould be forced to facilitate procedures that violate their core beliefs,including their health insurance plans. This would be the first time the BIpartizan Religious Freedom Restoration Act, introduced by then representativeChuck Schumer, was explicitly waived.

The bill's expansion definitionof artificial reproductive technology sweeps in much more than IVFand has far reaching implications. It would legalize human cloning. It would legalize commercial surrogacy,including for young girls without parental involvement. It would legalize gene edited designerbabies and lift the federal ban on the creation of three parent embryos. It would legalize the creation of humananimal chemerys other developed countries like Germany, New Zealand and Australia,as well as states like Louisiana, have.

Policies that allow for IVF coupled withcommon sense protections to respect human life, creating rights to human cloning. The genetic engineering of human embryosand surrogacy is too extreme and goes far beyond IVF. This bill misses the mark. We should strive to do bothand this bill does not do that. Therefore, I object. I have the greatest respect and andadmiration for my friend from Mississippi. But I have to say that I disagreewith her interpretation.

Of my piece of legislation. This bill does three thingsand three things only. It protects the right of individualsto seek assisted reproductive technology without fear of being prosecuted for,for seeking that technology. It preserves the right of physiciansto provide that assisted reproductive technologywithout without fear of being prosecuted. And it also allows insurance companiesto cover to cover assisted reproductive technology. That is all that it does.

It does not force anyoneto seek reproductive technology. It does not force anyone to offer it.It does not force anyone to cover it. It simply says,you have a statutory right. Should you choose to pursueassisted reproductive technology, that you will be able to do so. I also want to note that in Louisiana,there is already state law that prohibits the discarding of frozen embryos or of frozen fertilized eggs. This has already started in Florida.

There is a bill pending before the statelegislature that would deem that a fertilized egg is a human being, andprovide for the opportunity for penalties to be put into judgment for for thosewho would discard those fertilized eggs. So this is a real threat today. You know, women across the countryuse IVF to start and grow their families. You're hearing thatnot only from Senator Duckworth. I've heard it from so many peoplein Nevada and really across the country. They make that choicein consultation with their partners, their families and their doctors.

Not a government official,not a government official. There is no logical reasonto deny women that. Right. And yet, after Roe versus Wade fell,we could see from a mile away that IVF was in danger. Senator Duckworth was one of the firstto come forward and recognizing that. And that's why her legislationis so important. Why? Because attacking IVF was yet anotherchance for anti-choice Republicans.

To erode women's rights in this country. They've introduced a federal abortion banthat would supersede state laws. They've stacked the courtswith anti-choice judges. They've limited funding to women's healthcare, and they have repeatedly ignored the very science behind reproductivehealth care in order to push their agenda. We knew this was coming. In fact, we tried to do something about ita year ago, after Roe was overturned, not only did Senator Duckworthcome to the floor with her legislation, we have introduced numerous legislationon this floor to protect women's rights.

And every single time, unfortunately,one of our Republican colleagues comes forward to object without any explanation. But continuing to really erodewomen's rights in this country. And I have to say, these extreme GOP,colleagues of ours claim to be pro-life. They claim to champion family planning. But really, when it comes down to it,they don't support it. You just have to be in our communities andlisten to the women and their families. And you understandthat the difference this time around is that the Alabama Supreme Courtis actually calling their bluff.

The threat to IVFis no longer this hypothetical. I don't care what party you are. I don't care if you're Democrator Republican. You're nonpartisan. A majority of Americans want womento have this right to choose. They want them to have this ability.They believe in having families. They believe in IVF. They believein women's reproductive rights. And most importantly, what this are someof our Republican colleagues are doing.

Is inhibiting and limiting women's accessto 21st century health care. That's what this is about. Why should we deny women the rightto access 21st century health care? If it's going to save their lives,it's going to help them have families. What is wrong with that?At the end of the day. So I have to thank Senator Duckworth, andit's unfortunate that we had an objection to her legislation that is so needed,unfortunately, in this day and age. But it is that's where we are today,fighting for women's rights, fighting across this country.

And finally, my only other questionto my colleagues is I trust women to make this decision. – Why don't they?- You know, I've been really odd and humbled by the eloquence of the women senators who have preceded me, and I hesitate to add to what they've stated so powerfully already. But of course, I'm a man. And this bill is about women'sreproductive care and women's rights, but.

It is also about the rights of all of us. The name of the act is the Accessto Family Building Act. It's about families.It's about men like myself, whose most awesome moment in life was the time they held their newly born child. Men have an equal stakein the issue that brings us here today. Men should be as scared and angry as women are about this trend,which is so destructive. Basic rights and liberties.Women's rights are human rights.

The rights at stake hereare rights that are American. What could be more American than wantingto bring a child into the world? And what could be more heartbreaking? We've all been through it, throughfriends, neighbors, maybe our own family, man and woman in love,wanting to have a child, miscarriages. Other obstacles that prevent it. And there is a hole in their hearts,a hole in their homes and their families as they struggle with issuesof fertility and childbirth. This measure very simply guaranteesthe right for women and families.

Everywhere in Alabama and Connecticut,in every state in this country, to access the fertility care they needto bring children into the world. What has become devastatinglyand tragically clear is that the Republican Party's animositytowards women, health and women's rights doesn't stop at abortion. It's why I ask that IVF question in 2020,and it's why I didn't get a clear answer from a Republican nomineeto the Supreme Court. The war on womenand on reproductive choices by women and the war on families hasn't stopped.

At abortion or even Senator. Your time is up. So I conclude by thankingmy colleagues who have. Brought this measure to the floor,particularly Senator Duckworth. And I regret that Republicanshave blocked this measure. Thank you, Madam President. Republican oppositionto IVF is terrifying. It makes me furious,but it should not surprise anyone. Donald Trump set the stage for the attackson reproductive rights when he stacked.

The Supreme Court with ultra conservativejustices and overturned Roe versus Wade. And since then, Republicans banned or severely restricted abortion in 24 states. They're trying to ban medicationabortion nationwide. And now in Alabama, these extremistshave virtually outlawed IVF, fertility care that gives peoplea chance to start a family. This has always been about conservativepoliticians controlling women's bodies. This has been Donald Trumpand the Republicans plan all along. And the oppositionto Senator Duckworth's proposal today.

Shows that Republicans are doublingdown against reproductive freedom. They are coming for medication abortion. They are coming for birth control, andthey are even coming for prenatal care. Make no mistake,we will fight them every step of the way. I want to talk for just a minuteabout the people who are affected by these extremist policies. Families in Alabamawho have been wanting and praying that IVF can help them have a baby. Women who have injected themselveswith medication.

For weeks or months or even years. People who have spent an entire lifesavings trying to start a family, only now to see their hopes go down the drain. LGBTQ families who have spent years taking on every obstacle just for the chance to have a baby of their own. And for some, this was the last chance. And now Republicans like Donald Trumpand those in this chamber might try to backtrack, might try to say that they are.

Working to protect IVF, but it's all talk. Senate Republicans actions today speak louder than any empty promises they make. Americans can tellwhen Republican politicians try to talk out of both sides of their mouths. The American peoplewant reproductive freedom. The American people support parentsand those desperately trying to become parents. So here's what comes next.

Democrats have made clear that we standwith President Biden, with Vice President Harris, and with the millions of familiesaffected by these heartless policies. We stand to protect reproductive rights for people all across this country,and together we will fight for every person to have access to a safe abortion. We will fight for every familyto have access to the services needed to have a baby. And we won't stop fightinguntil we secure the Congress that we need to protect reproductive freedomfor everyone in this country.

I am proud to be a co-sponsorof Senator Duckworth's bill, and together we're going to get this done. Thank you, Madam President.I yield the floor.

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