Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and CNN host Kaitlan Collins engaged in a tense discussion over fertility treatments on Tuesday night during which the Republican lawmaker forcefully prevented the anchor from interjecting.
“No Kaitlan, you’re not going to stop me there,” the senator from Alabama told Collins, whom he accused of misrepresenting his position on in vitro fertilization.
Collins invited Cotton onto her prime time news show “The Source” to discuss a move by Senate Republicans to block a bill put forward by Democrats that would have codified into federal law a right to IVF.
The bill failed to get the necessary 60 votes to achieve cloture as 44 Republican senators voted against it despite the fact that former President Donald Trump has stated that he supports free IVF treatments.
“Senate Republicans today blocked a bill that would guarantee access to the very thing that a lot of them say they support,” Collins said to open her show. Her comments were reported by the news site Mediaite.
“It’s also the very thing that we have heard from 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.”
Collins then introduced Cotton, who promptly pushed back on her opening.
“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,” the US senator from Alabama said.
“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.”
Collins responded: “I didn’t say that in the intro, but okay, go ahead.”
Cotton replied by accusing Collins of neglecting to mention other aspects of the bill.
“Access [to IVF] is guaranteed in all 50 states right now,” Cotton told Collins. “You also said that it was about IVF. It was about a lot more than IVF.”
Cotton went on to say that the 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.”
“It would also imperil religious liberty.”
Cotton then accused Democrats of attempting to force Christian hospitals to provide fertility care that is antithetical to their faith.
“Okay senator, let’s stop you there,” Collins said, prompting Cotton to shoot back: “No Kaitlan, you’re not going to stop me there! Because you’re misrepresenting what the bill is about.”
Cotton went on to criticize other aspects of the proposed legislation.
Collins then said: “Just to be clear, I’m not misrepresenting the bill.”
“You can say you don’t like it, you can say that you think it’s a show vote, you can talk about those aspects of it, but this is something that was put up there, and it would have guaranteed access to IVF,” the CNN host said.