GOP senator rages at CNN host because she correctly said his party blocked the IVF protection bill

CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) got into a heated exchange last night after Senate Republicans blocked a bill aimed at protecting in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Cotton attempted to “correct” Collins’ lead-in to the segment, where she correctly stated that Republicans just voted down “the very thing that a lot of them say they support” and “the very thing that we have heard from Donald Trump say that he supports.”

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Democrats “tried and failed again” to pass the measure to guarantee access to IVF nationwide, she said.

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Cotton responded testily, saying that the vote was a Democratic attempt to pressure Republicans to pass legislation that would protect reproductive healthcare.

“Tonight they are using this vote to hammer Republicans who said, ‘No,'” said Cotton.

He continued, “Well Kaitlan first off I have to correct almost everything you said in the lead-in there, almost none of which was accurate about this bill.”

Cotton said that there is “no risk in this country” to IVF, despite multiple state laws defining fetuses and even fertilized embryos – many of which are destroyed, frozen, or fail to implant during IVF treatments – as people going into effect in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.

Cotton said that the bill “as about a lot more than IVF, ” claiming that it would have mandated “experimental, controversial procedures” such as cloning, gene editing, or “providing fertility treatments for men who think they’re women, whatever that means.”

Cotton attacked the bill for, he said, infringing on religious liberties — asserting he supports allowing Christian hospitals to operate “as they see fit” — Collins tried to cut him off.

“Ok, senator, but can we — let’s just stop you there,” she said, trying to politely get her guest to pause. Cotton got angry, saying, “No, Kaitlan, you’re not going to stop me there! Because you’re misrepresenting what the bill’s about!”

Collins pointed out that the issue Democrats are worried about is what happened in Alabama, where the state supreme court ruled that embryos have the same rights as children, leading several IVF clinics to shut down due to legal concerns.

Unfazed, Cotton doubled down, arguing that Alabama’s case supported his stance. He described the court’s decision as an update to an “old law,” claiming the state felt “constrained by a law.” In response, the legislature passed a new law protecting medical practitioners who provide IVF without addressing the question of whether fertilized embryos are children with rights.

Cotton later reiterated his claim that Democrats are the party infringing on religious liberty, accusing them of wanting to “harass and persecute nuns” and “investigate Catholics for attending traditional masses.”

Collins responded, “This is something that was put up there and would’ve guaranteed access to IVF.”

“The legislature acted promptly to change what was an old law to ensure access to I[VF] —,” he tries to say, only for Collins to interject and ask him, “Why did they have to act if it wasn’t in peril, senator?”

“Because of the Supreme Court decision,” Cotton responds, referring to Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the case that overturned Roe.

Collin replied that it was the Supreme Court decision “that imperiled access to IVF.”

Cotton: IVF is not at risk. The Alabama example proves the point. The legislature acted promptly

Collins: Why did they have to act if it wasn’t in peril?

Cotton: Because of the Supreme Court decision

Collins: That imperiled access to IVF pic.twitter.com/xViSNvv8IU

— Acyn (@Acyn) September 18, 2024

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