Tina Smith: “reserving the right to object, and with respect for my colleague Senator Hyde-Smith with whom I serve on the Agriculture…”

“reserving the right to object, and with respect for my colleague Senator Hyde-Smith with whom I serve on the Agriculture Committee, I fear this bill is another attempt to distract from the truth, which is that Republicans are trying to make it harder for women to access reproductive healthcare. Now, this bill purports to empower and support women and families facing fertility challenges--something that I would certainly agree with. But instead of protecting access to IVF services and other assisted reproductive technologies, what it would do is to direct the government to actually steer people away from using evidence-based services like IVF in favor of ``restorative reproductive medicine.'' Now, let me be clear, women and their families deserve the freedom and the autonomy to decide for themselves how to start and grow their families in consultation with their doctors, and they don't need politicians deciding what kind of care they should or shouldn't be getting. But if you need more evidence, the Republicans are trying to distort their record on these issues, look no further than section 2 of this bill, which would declare that Congress finds that ``in vitro fertilization and other assisted reproductive technologies are not under threat at the Federal level or in any State or territory of the United States.'' That is in section 2.…”