Alaska’s U.S. senators split their votes Tuesday on a bill that would provide federal protection and guarantee insurance coverage for in vitro fertilization.
Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins of Maine were the only two Republicans to vote in favor of advancing the IVF bill. Forty-four Republicans, including Sen. Dan Sullivan, blocked the measure. The bill fell nine votes short of the number needed to proceed.
Democrats want to show that they are the party that backs IVF. The procedure allows tens of thousands of couples a year to overcome fertility trouble and have babies.
IVF is controversial among some conservative abortion opponents because it typically involves creating more embryos than can be implanted and carried to term.
Republicans called the bill an election-year stunt.
A spokesman for Sullivan says the senator supports IVF but the bill had unacceptable elements that raised concerns over religious liberties.