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Floor Speech

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Mr. MARSHALL. Mr. President, I thank the leadership of the Senators from Texas and Alabama on this issue that is important to literally millions of Americans, as the Senators talked about.

First of all, let the record show that, today, the Democrats objected to the Republican-led IVF Protection Act. The Democrats objected to protecting IVF.

This is personal to so many people up here, and it is personal to many Republican Senators. I would suppose a half a dozen of us so far have a family member--maybe a child or a grandchild--because of IVF or staff, thanks to IVF. Maybe it is as personal to me as to anybody up here. For some 30 years of my life, I had the opportunity and the privilege of delivering a baby most every day. Certainly, I have just nothing but fond, fond memories in each one of those opportunities to give a baby to a new mom and dad and just see the smiles on their faces and see their lives change forever.

But not everybody was that fortunate, and not everybody is that fortunate, as 10 to 15 percent of Americans have an infertility problem. There are 10 to 15 percent of married couples who struggle to have children, and that is why I worked so hard to have an infertility clinic--a place where people could travel from hundreds of miles to get help with their infertility treatments. Certainly, there were many basic things we could do. We helped thousands of women and have helped them have a baby, but if we weren't successful, the next step was in vitro fertilization. Personally, I am proud that I participated in hundreds of IVF cycles--successful cycles--and delivered many, many, many babies from in vitro fertilization.

The country needs to know that Republicans believe in IVF, that we support it. I have never heard one Republican Senator up here say anything else. I have not heard anyone try to take this down. So I am proud to stand up here today and support Senator Britt's and Senator Cruz's bill to protect in vitro fertilization.

We are going to have an opportunity tomorrow on a show bill--we will have a show vote on a show bill. Senator Duckworth's bill on IVF has poison pills that not many Republicans can tolerate.

The first poison pill is it denies freedom of religion, as Senator Cruz talked about--freedom of religion. The bill we will be voting on tomorrow, as far as I am concerned, is unconstitutional. As a physician--as a Christian physician, as a God-fearing Christian--there are certain things that I will not participate in, but I happen to believe that in vitro fertilization is a gift from God, that God has given us this technology to do good with. And I want to make sure that we apply that. There will be certain hospitals and physicians who don't want to participate in IVF, but the Democrats' bill tomorrow forces that physician and that hospital to participate against their consciences. I think that is a violation of religious freedom.

The second poison pill in that legislation is that the bill's definitions are too broad. They create an unlimited, unfettered right to all reproductive technologies. You would have to assume that that includes cloning and gene editing. Are we ready to go out there and force hospitals and doctors to participate in cloning and gene editing? I just don't think America is ready for that.

And here is the third issue, the third poison pill that is being ignored: This legislation by Senator Duckworth requires infertility clinics to go right to IVF; that they skip--they can skip all the other easier steps, if you will. I won't bore the rest of the Senate with some of those easier things we could do, but there are many things that you could do for infertility before jumping to IVF. I just don't think that that is good legislation to overregulate that patient-physician relationship.

It is a great honor to come here today. Today, 200 babies were born from in vitro fertilization--200. Let's celebrate those babies. We are the party of pro-family and pro-life. We support protecting in vitro fertilization. I ask this Chamber to come together and celebrate the blessings of in vitro fertilization as opposed to mounting political disinformation campaigns that are disingenuous to the beliefs of so many in our conference.

As I said before, the Republican Party stands as the pro-family party, and nothing embodies this more than welcoming a new baby into loving arms. Standing with these families means offering them encouragement and support in their journeys toward safe and secure in vitro fertilization treatment. Our commitment to protecting life ensures that every family has the chance to experience that joy of parenthood through in vitro fertilization.

Our priority is always to make it easier for families to have babies, not harder. We must understand that there are over 8 million families now for whom IVF has answered their prayers. That is why I am, again, so honored to stand here beside Senators Cruz and Britt to champion this pro-family legislation and guarantee access to in vitro fertilization to all Americans.

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