How Republicans blocking the latest IVF bill is playing out in Virginia’s US Senate race

The popularity of in vitro fertilization is being ignored by Republicans fighting to restrict basic reproductive rights.

The move by US Senate Republicans on Tuesday to once again block federal legislation that would ensure protections and insurance coverage for in vitro fertilization treatments is reverberating in Virginia’s US Senate race.

Democrats had tried advancing the legislation in part to call attention to Republican opposition to abortion rights and reproductive rights more broadly, despite Donald Trump’s attempts to moderate and obfuscate about where he stands. Senate Republicans blocked similar IVF legislation back in June, but that was before their party leader’s recent comments that he was a “leader” on the issue. 

Both of Virginia’s Democratic US Senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, voted to advance the IVF legislation this week. America’s first IVF baby, Elizabeth Carr, was born in Virginia at Norfolk General Hospital and was Kaine’s guest at this year’s State of the Union after a restrictive Alabama court ruling thrust IVF into the national spotlight. 

Read more: Kaine, Warner urge federal agency cover IVF treatment for public workers

“It isn’t a far-off threat or a fearmongering tactic – we’re in the middle of a targeted assault on women’s access to reproductive care, and we need federal protections in place so families in all 50 states have the freedom to grow if they wish to do so,” Warner said in a statement. “I’m deeply disappointed that my colleagues failed to protect access to IVF today, including robust protections for servicemembers and military families.”

Infertility affects millions of Americans and thousands of babies are born each year using IVF, which involves a number of expensive procedures to help people get pregnant, often when they cannot do so otherwise. In IVF, eggs are fertilized by sperm in a lab, and then the fertilized eggs, or embryos, are placed in a person’s uterus. 

“Virginians and all Americans deserve the ability to make their own decisions about their health and whether and when to start a family without government interference,” Kaine said in a statement. 

As part of his bid for re-election, Kaine’s campaign has sought to contrast his record on defending reproductive rights with the positions of his Republican opponent, Hung Cao. Kaine ran an ad noting Cao’s comments about being “thrilled” the US Supreme Court took away the constitutional right to an abortion.

Read more: What to know about Virginia’s US Senate race

Asked if he would support the IVF legislation that his would-be Republican colleagues blocked on Tuesday, Cao did not answer the question directly. Cao, through a spokesperson, said that he supported access to IVF and noted that some of his children are the result of fertility treatments. 

“I totally support requiring insurance companies to cover IVF, and I support the IVF Protection Act introduced by Senator Katie Britt to ensure that any state receiving federal Medicaid funding may not prohibit IVF services,” Cao said. 

Kaine’s communications director, Michael Beyer, pushed back on Cao’s comments, posting on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Cao “won’t support legislation to protect access to IVF.”