Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) refused on Tuesday to allow CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins to block him from telling the truth about an IVF-related bill.
Earlier in the day, the Senate failed to pass a bill that would provide federal protections for IVF. It was the second time the bill failed after nearly every Republican senator voted against it. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) were the only Republicans who voted for it.
‘No, Kaitlan, you’re not going to stop me there.’
The Democratic narrative quickly became that Republicans are once again trying to restrict rights and block fertility care.
Collins herself parroted that narrative. Before introducing Cotton onto her show, she said:
Senate Republicans today blocked a bill that would guarantee access to the very thing that a lot of them say they support. It’s also the very thing that we have heard Donald Trump say that he supports. Democrats tried and failed, again, to pass that measure, which would guarantee access to IVF nationwide. And tonight, they are using this vote to hammer Republicans who said, “No.”
When it was finally Cotton’s turn to speak, he told Collins that he needed to “correct almost everything you said in the lede in there.”
“First off, there’s no risk to IVF in this country. All 49 Republican senators, along with President Trump, support IVF. No state restricts or bans IVF,” Cotton explained. “Second, this bill was about a lot more than just IVF.”
Despite having laid out only those two basic facts, Collins immediately became defensive. Cotton, however, clarified the facts about what the bill actually includes.
“You said that it had to guarantee access. Access is guaranteed in all 50 states right now,” he explained. “You also said that it was about IVF. It’s about a lot more than IVF. This bill would mandate coverage for experimental controversial procedures, like cloning or gene editing or providing fertility treatments to men who think they’re women, whatever that means.”
And when Cotton tried to explain how the bill “would also imperil religious liberties” — by allegedly compelling Christians to operate against their conscience — Collins tried to interrupt the senator.
“Let’s stop you there,” she said.
“No, Kaitlan, you’re not going to stop me there,” Cotton fired back. “Because you’re misrepresenting what the bill is about. The bill is about infringing upon religious liberty.”
As the interview went on, Collins repeatedly defended the bill, claiming “it would have guaranteed access to IVF.” But Cotton was forced time and again to remind her that IVF access is prima facie guaranteed already because not a single state restricts it.
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Kaitlan collins, Cnn, Media bias, Legacy media, Tom cotton, Republicans, Ivf, Senate, Politics