- Senate Democrats are putting the pressure on Trump.
- On Tuesday, Senate Democrats are reintroducing a bill that aims to make IVF a right nationwide.
With less than 50 days until the election, Senate Democrats are putting Republicans — and Trump — in the hot seat on IVF.
On Tuesday, Senate Democrats are bringing the Right to IVF Act to a second vote, just 3 months after Republicans in the chamber first shot it down. The bill aims to make it a nationwide right to both receive and provide in vitro fertilization services and includes provisions to make it cheaper.
Why now? They want to pressure Trump to stand by his promise to support IVF and urge his Republican colleagues to vote in favor.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a letter to colleagues that the decision to reintroduce the bill was influenced by Trump's own recent endorsements of IVF, CBS News reported.
In last week's debate against Kamala Harris, the former president called himself a "leader on IVF." And in August, Trump told NBC News that if reelected, he would protect the right to IVF and get the costs covered for Americans who need it.
But Democrats have accused Trump of making false promises, using statements from his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, that disparaged women without children and supporting abortion bans to allege Trump won't follow through with his campaign vow.
Democrats argue that if Trump wants to follow through on that promise, all he needs to do now is say the word.
"If Donald Trump and Republicans want to protect people's right to access IVF, they can vote yes on it," Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who sponsored the legislation, told CBS News. "He's shown that it only takes one sentence from him, and the Republican Party will fall in line behind him."
Trump's campaign and JD Vance's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
The vote is not likely to get past Senate Republicans as they and Trump may be wary of handing Democrats a win so close to the election, even if it's on an issue they've also pledged to support.
After Alabama ruled in February that embryos can be considered children — threatening IVF procedures in the state — Republicans quickly rallied around access to IVF, despite their past stances to the contrary. Trump jumped in to voice his support of the procedure, and by May, two GOP senators were introducing a package to protect IVF access, though Democrats rejected it, arguing it didn't go far enough.
"Republicans had a chance to back up their rhetoric with action when we voted earlier this year, and nearly all of them they failed," Schumer said in floor remarks on Monday ahead of Tuesday's vote. "I hope tomorrow brings a different result. The American people will be watching."