Republicans Block IVF Bill as Democrats Sound Alarm (1)

GOP senators blocked a Democrat-led effort Wednesday to federally protect in-vitro fertilization, downplaying the effects a recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling will have on their electoral odds in November.

Mississippi Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith blocked the bill, contending it goes “far beyond IVF” and contended it would allow the genetic engineering of human embryos, commercial surrogacy and even “human-animal chimeras.”

But Democrats doubled down on their message to voters that conservative opposition to reproductive rights will endanger women’s access to more than just abortion. Democrats are sounding the alarm on potential effects on fertility treatments, contraception and more if Republicans win ...