U.S. Senate to vote on IVF protections as Democrats eye fall election

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate on Thursday is slated to vote on a Democratic bill that would establish protections for in vitro fertilization — the latest election-year effort by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer aimed at drawing a contrast between Republicans and Democrats on women's reproductive issues.

Schumer and Democrats point to the Supreme Court’s June 2022 ruling overturning federal abortion protections and a February Alabama Supreme Court ruling that deemed frozen embryos should be afforded the same legal protections as children as examples of Republicans restricting reproductive rights. Long Island House Republicans, locked in competitive races, are looking to distance themselves from those rulings by proclaiming their support for House bills calling for IVF and birth control protections.

Schumer (D-N.Y.) in an interview with Newsday ahead of Thursday’s vote said “people should know how each of their elected officials stand on this issue” before the November election.

“I hope everyone, Democrat and Republican, supports this legislation, but if they don't, I think it's politically perilous for them,” Schumer said when asked what impact he believed the vote on IVF would have on New York's down ballot races.

Schumer said the bill would require health insurance providers to cover fertility treatments and protect IVF providers from liability.

“People say, well, it's not at risk in New York. Well, that's what we said about abortion,” Schumer said. “Unless you make a fight for it, it could go away.”

New York’s three House Republicans — Reps. Anthony D’Esposito (R-Island Park), Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport) and Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) — as well as Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi of Glen Cove all say they support IVF.

D'Esposito and LaLota, both freshman House members elected in 2020, have been the target of abortion rights groups and Democratic political action committees, which have pledged to spend money and resources to flip their seats. EMILY’s List, a political action group that backs women Democratic candidates, announced last February it had placed D’Esposito and LaLota on the group’s “On Notice” list of 22 Republican “top targets to defeat in the 2024 election cycle.”

In March, D’Esposito — who is running against Democrat Laura Gillen, a former Hempstead Town supervisor, for the 4th Congressional District seat — signed on as a co-sponsor of a bill sponsored by Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.) that would provide federal protections for IVF.

D’Esposito joined three other House Republicans, including fellow freshman Reps. Mike Lawler (R-Pearl River) and Marc Molinaro (R-Binghamton), in co-sponsoring Wild’s measure. The bill has 170 Democratic co-sponsors, including Suozzi.

Asked why he decided to endorse Wild’s bill, D’Esposito told Newsday he wanted to “continue working in a bipartisan fashion in Congress to further protect this important, pro-family option.”

Wild’s bill has languished in the Republican-controlled House for months, where it has yet to make it out of committee. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told reporters in March he did not believe “Congress needs to play a role here” and said the issue should be left for states to regulate.

Gillen, in a statement to Newsday, said D’Esposito could not be “trusted when it comes to protecting reproductive freedoms,” citing in part his endorsement of former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, who appointed three conservatives to the Supreme Court that struck down the decades-old Roe V. Wade decision legalizing abortion nationwide.

“We will make sure Long Island voters hold D’Esposito accountable at the ballot box in November,” Gillen said.

Asked for a response, D’Esposito accused Gillen of attempting to “distort my pro-IVF record.”

LaLota has previously said he supports IVF, and on Tuesday his office announced he is co-sponsoring a bill led by Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) in the House that calls on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to approve additional over-the-counter oral contraceptives.

Democrats John Avlon of Sag Harbor and Nancy Goroff of Stony Brook are competing in the upcoming June 25 Democratic primary to run against LaLota in November for the 1st Congressional District seat. Both see reproductive health as a galvanizing issue that will draw support to their campaigns.

“Every day I hear from New York voters, especially New York women, who are concerned about our rights being chipped away by politicians in D.C.,” Goroff told Newsday.

Avlon, in a statement, said: “Democrats are going to protect and defend a woman’s right to reproductive freedom and to make their own health care decisions.”

By Laura Figueroa Hernandez

laura.figueroa@newsday.com@Laura_Figueroa

Laura Figueroa Hernandez is the White House correspondent and previously covered New York City politics and government. She joined Newsday in 2012 after covering state and local politics for The Miami Herald.