CBS News
Senate to vote on IVF package amid Democrats’ reproductive rights push
Washington — The Senate is set to vote Thursday afternoon on a legislative package to protect access to IVF, as Democrats make a push around reproductive rights this month — two years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade — despite near-certain opposition from Republicans.
The issue came to the national attention after the Alabama Supreme Court earlier this year ruled that embryos are considered children under state law, prompting providers to halt fertility treatments. (The Legislature later approved legislation to protect IVF in the state.)
Across the nation, Democrats put the blame on Republicans as the development raised concern about similar moves elsewhere, warning of a new front in the fight over reproductive rights.
“In the aftermath of Roe and after frightening decisions like the one from Alabama, many families fear that this basic service cannot be taken for granted,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Tuesday. “The Senate can ease people’s worries and protect their freedoms through legislation.”
On Thursday afternoon, the upper chamber is scheduled to take a procedural vote on the package, called the Right to IVF Act, made up of four bills, some of which have previously been blocked by Senate Republicans. The package, which has almost no chance of being approved, is sponsored by Sens. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, Patty Murray of Washington and Cory Booker of New Jersey, and centers on a right to receive and provide IVF services, while working to make the treatments more affordable.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
One measure would create a statutory right for access to assisted reproductive services like IVF. Duckworth tried to secure passage of the bill in February under unanimous consent, but one Republican senator objected, claiming that it would go too far. The package also includes a measure geared toward expanding access to the fertility treatments for veterans, which was likewise blocked by a Republican senator earlier this year. Other provisions are aimed at lowering costs for Americans by requiring insurance plans to cover IVF.
Another push related to reproductive rights fell short in the Senate last week, when Democrats tried to advance legislation protecting access to contraception ,with most Republicans opposing the measure. The two votes come as part of an effort by Democrats to highlight reproductive rights this month, with an eye toward the November elections, which Republicans have criticized. But Schumer argues that the votes aren’t mere messaging votes.
“Protecting IVF, like protecting contraception, is not a show vote,” Schumer said at a news conference on Wednesday. “It’s a show-us-who-you-are vote.”
However, Senate Democrats want to put Republicans on the record over the issues related to reproductive rights issues, which has been a driving force at the polls.
“Every single Republican needs to answer clearly for the record: do you want our laws to protect IVF or do you want laws that say frozen embryos have the same rights as living, breathing human beings?” Murray said at a news conference on Wednesday. “You cannot have both.”
And when it comes to IVF, although Senate Republicans have largely expressed support for the fertility treatments in the wake of the Alabama ruling, lawmakers appear to be at odds over a path forward that would satisfy both parties.
Last month, two Senate Republicans, Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Katie Britt of Alabama, introduced legislation to protect access to IVF, urging bipartisan support. But Democrats quickly pushed back on the legislation, questioning its scope and mechanism.
The GOP bill, called the IVF Protection Act, the would require that states “do not prohibit in vitro fertilization” as a condition for the states to receive federal funding for Medicaid, which provides health insurance for low-income Americans. The bill doesn’t compel an organization or individual to provide IVF services, and it doesn’t preclude states from otherwise regulating IVF — which Democrats generally oppose.
On Wednesday, Cruz and Britt attempted to approve the legislation under unanimous consent, in order to preempt the Democrat-led vote on Thursday. But Murray blocked the move, calling it a “PR tool” and argued that it’s “ridiculous to claim that this bill protects IVF when it does nothing of the sort.”
Though the Democrats’ IVF package isn’t likely to advance, at least one Republican, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, said she intends to vote to advance the IVF package. She told reporters she doesn’t want “the message to be that Republicans are against IVF,” but she also noted that the move is “clearly not a serious attempt at legislating.”
And Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, said she’s still looking at the components of the package. The two Republicans were the only members of their party to vote in favor of advancing the contraception legislation last week.
Alan He contributed reporting.
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
President-elect Donald Trump fired another salvo in his long-running effort to have his New York criminal conviction tossed, with his attorneys alleging earlier this month that there was juror misconduct during his trial.
In a previously undisclosed Dec. 3 letter to Justice Juan Merchan that was made public Tuesday, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove wrote that there was “grave juror misconduct” in the proceedings in a Manhattan courtroom earlier this year.
However, heavy redactions in the letter and subsequent exchanges with prosecutors obscured almost all information about the accusations themselves.
“The jury in this case was not anywhere near fair and impartial,” they wrote.
Merchan on Tuesday directed Trump to make the redacted letter public, and instructed prosecutors to publish their own redacted responses. The judge also criticized Trump’s lawyers for making such serious allegations without sworn statements.
Prosecutors called the allegations “vague accusations of juror misconduct” in one of their responses. They claimed Trump’s attorneys did not want to have the allegations subject to investigation or a public hearing.
“Notwithstanding the import of their allegations, counsel do not request and in fact oppose a hearing at which their allegations could be fully examined, referring to such a hearing as ‘invasive fact-finding,'” wrote a prosecutor for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Still, they argued such an investigation wasn’t yet appropriate.
“Counsel’s allegations fall far short of the standard required to request such a hearing in any event,” they wrote.
It is unclear if the allegations relate to a June 7 letter from Merchan that alerted prosecutors and Trump’s attorneys to a comment left on the court’s Facebook page the night before Trump’s conviction.
“My cousin is a juror and says Trump is getting convicted,” the user wrote. “Thank you folks for all your hard work!!!!”
The person who made the comment had previously described themselves as a “professional s**tposter.”
Trump was found guilty in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records, connected with a scheme to cover up a “hush money” payment to an adult film star. He pleaded not guilty and is contesting the conviction on multiple fronts.
Japanese automakers Honda Motor and Nissan Motor are reportedly entering merger talks to help them compete against Tesla and other electric vehicle makers, according to the Nikkei financial newspaper.
The two firms are considering operating under a single holding company, and are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding for the new entity, according to the Tokyo-based Nikkei.
The paper also reports that Honda and Nissan are considering bringing in Mitsubishi Motors, of which Nissan is the top shareholder, under the holding company to create one of the world’s largest auto groups.
In a statement to CBS MoneyWatch, Nissan said it has not announced the details in the report, but that the two companies “are exploring various possibilities for future collaboration, leveraging each other’s strengths,” which it announced in March.
Honda did not immediately respond to CBS MoneyWatch’s request for comment.
In March, Japan’s number two and three automakers, after rival Toyota, deepened ties when they agreed to explore a strategic partnership on electric vehicles.
Analysts characterized the move as one that is aimed at helping the automakers catch up with Chinese competitors, including BYD, which have captured more market share, while Japanese firms have lost ground by focusing more on hybrid vehicles.
China overtook Japan as the world’s biggest vehicle exporter in 2023, aided in part by its dominance in the electric car space.
Honda announced plans in May to double its investment in electric vehicles to $65 billion by 2030, as part of a target set three years ago of achieving 100% EV sales by 2040.
Similarly, Nissan in March announced that 16 of the 30 new models it plans to launch over the next three years would be “electrified.”
Climate concerns drive demand
The world’s auto giants are increasingly prioritizing electric and hybrid vehicles, with demand growing for less polluting models as concern about climate change grows.
At the same time, however, consumer demand for EVs has slowed amid high prices, range anxiety and developing infrastructure around charging points.
Hybrids that combine battery power and internal combustion engines have remained popular in Japan, accounting for 40% of sales in 2022.
But Japanese firms’ focus on hybrids has left them in the slow lane in meeting the growing appetite for purely electric vehicles. Just 1.7% of cars sold in Japan in 2022 were electric, compared to 15% in western Europe and 5.3% in the United States.
