Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., on Wednesday asked for unanimous consent for her bill that would protect access to fertility treatments, putting Senate Republicans on the record about whether they support in vitro fertilization in the wake of a controversial Alabama court decision.

Mississippi Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith quickly objected to the bill, blocking its consideration.

The Alabama Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law and that someone could be held liable for destroying them. Several IVF providers in the state have since paused services. 

Duckworth’s bill, named the Access to Family Building Act, would prohibit restricting access to assisted reproductive technology such as IVF. It would allow the U.S. attorney general, private citizens and health care providers to sue any state or local governments that interfere with someone seeking fertility treatments. 

At a news conference at the Capitol on Tuesday, Duckworth said the Alabama ruling is “based on extreme ideology rather than on medical science, and one that throws IVF access into chaos for countless women as they and their doctors try to figure out whether they might be criminalized for simply trying to start a family.”

But on the Senate floor on Wednesday, Sen. Hyde-Smith charged that the bill "is a vast overreach that is full of poison pills that go way too far, far beyond ensuring legal access to IVF."

"I support the ability for mothers and fathers to have total access to IVF and bringing new life into the world," she said. "I also believe human life should be protected. These are not mutually exclusive."

It's unclear what will happen next. Senate Democrats could put the bill on the floor, pushing their Republican colleagues to go on the record about the procedure.

Abortion rights advocates say they fear the Alabama ruling could have a ripple effect that leads to similar court decisions or restrictive legislation in other red states.

But a wave of Republican politicians have voiced their support for IVF in recent days. Among them, former President Donald Trump, the front-runner for the GOP nomination this year, said he would “strongly support the availability of IVF” and called on lawmakers in Alabama to preserve access to the treatment. Presidential candidate Nikki Haley initially said she agreed that “embryos … are babies” but later clarified that she disagreed with the Alabama ruling.

And the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which works to elect GOP lawmakers, reportedly issued a memo telling candidates to show support for IVF and fertility treatments or risk Democratic opponents using it against them.

Duckworth and other Senate Democrats at Tuesday’s news conference accused Republicans of being hypocritical about IVF. They noted that 125 House Republicans sponsored or co-sponsored the Life at Conception Act last year, which would give equal protection under the 14th Amendment to every life starting at fertilization. Unlike a Senate version of the legislation, the House bill did not include a carve-out for IVF, which abortion rights advocates have argued could open the door for more rulings like the one in Alabama if the legislation ever passed.

Democrats also said the Alabama ruling was a direct result of Trump appointing three Supreme Court justices with the goal of striking down Roe v. Wade, which the high court did in 2022. 

“Thanks to MAGA extremism and the hard-right judges, the extremists judges that former President Trump and the Republican Senate put on the courts, today the United States is an embarrassment to the world when it comes to reproductive freedom,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

Added Duckworth, who warned even before Roe was overturned, that such a decision could someday jeopardize IVF: “Donald Trump suddenly supports IVF after crowing and claiming and taking credit for the fall of Roe v. Wade. You can't do both. It's hypocritical.”

Duckworth challenged Senate Republicans to vote for her bill.

“If you truly care about the sanctity of families, if you're genuinely actually honestly interested in protecting IVF, then you need to show it by not blocking this bill on the floor tomorrow,” she said. “It's that simple.”

It’s an issue that is personal for Duckworth, who conceived both of her children through IVF. 

“I likely would not have ever been able to have them had I not had access to basic reproductive rights that Americans up until recently had been depending on for decades. Because after a decade of struggle with infertility post my service in Iraq, I was only able to get pregnant through IVF,” said Duckworth, an Army veteran who lost both of her legs after the helicopter she was flying was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in Iraq. “IVF is the reason that I've gone to experience the chaos and beauty, the stress and the joy that is motherhood. 

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said there is “no reason” to take days to pass Duckworth’s bill, which was introduced in January. 

“If Republicans are now saying that they support IVF, don't block it tomorrow,” she said. “Let it pass. … If there is an urgent crisis in this country, we can do a UC [unanimous consent] and get it done. That's what should happen tomorrow.”

Unanimous consent is a tool aimed at expediting Senate business, including bills, which would bypass the usual procedures. If a single senator votes against it, the request is rejected.

Meanwhile, in Alabama, legislators are looking for ways to protect IVF services in the state as patients, who had procedures cancelled following the state Supreme Court ruling, remained stalled in their hopes of parenthood.

State lawmakers are working on proposals to try to remove the uncertainties for clinics. The bills are expected to be debated this week.

Republican Gov. Kay Ivey said Tuesday that she anticipates having a “bill on my desk very shortly while ensuring that the Legislature has time to get this right.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.