CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins sparred with Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas during a heated discussion Tuesday night over a GOP-led block of a bill that would protect in vitro fertilization.
Republicans in the Senate on Tuesday blocked Democrats from advancing legislation that would provide federal protections and insurance coverage for IVF treatments. Republicans characterized the legislation as a politically motivated stunt.
The discussion between the CNN anchor and the lawmaker immediately became contentious when Cotton attempted to "correct" Collins over her lead-in to the segment.
Collins noted that Republicans blocked the 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 from Donald Trump say that he supports," she added, noting Democrats "tried and failed again" to pass the measure to guarantee access to IVF nationwide.
"Tonight they are using this vote to hammer Republicans who said, 'No,'" said Collins.
When asked if Cotton would've voted for the legislation if Trump was in the White House, Cotton immediately attacked Collins' characterization of the bill.
"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," he said.
Cotton asserted there is "no risk in this country" to IVF and emphasized every Republican senator as well as Trump supports IVF. He additionally asserted that no state restricts IVF.
Collins attempted to interject that she didn't say as such in the intro, but Cotton pushed back again.
"You said it had to guarantee access. Access is guaranteed in all 50 states right now," he said.
Cotton also pushed back that the bill was about IVF.
"It was about a lot more than IVF," he said, adding that it would've mandated coverage for "experimental, controversial procedures" such as cloning, gene editing or "providing fertility treatments for men who think they're women, whatever that means."
As 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 nudge her guest to pause.
But Cotton fired back, "No Kaitlan, you're not going to stop me there! Because you're misrepresenting what the bill's about."
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"Let's have a conversation — let's have a conversation about this bill and this legislation itself," she insists. "You're saying that what I said was inaccurate, that this would guarantee access to IVF, which is what it would do. You're saying that no state restricts it, but no state guarantees it."
She noted that at issue is what happened in Alabama, where a court ruled that embryos count as children, prompting many IVF clinics to close out of fear of lawsuits or potential repercussions from the state attorney general.
Not to be deterred, Cotton insisted that the Alabama example proved his point, framing the court's ruling as one updating an "old law" because the state felt it was "constrained by a law." The state legislature then passed a new law guaranteeing access to IVF in the state.
Cotton later repeated an earlier assertion that Democrats are the party that seeks to infringe on religious liberty — even accusing the party of wanting to "harass and persecute nuns" and "investigate Catholics for going to traditional masses."
Collins pushed back again against Cotton, saying that while he can dislike the bill, she is "not misrepresenting" it.
"This is something that was put up there and would've guaranteed access to IVF," she said.
A few minutes later into the discussion, Cotton repeated his claim that IVF wasn't in danger, prompting another interjection from Collins.
"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 butt in and demand to know, "Why did they have to act if it wasn't in peril, senator?"
"Because of the Supreme Court decision," he responds.
Collins cut him off again, adding with a smile: "That imperiled access to IVF."
As Cotton tried to suggest Kamala Harris supports "radical" "partial-birth abortions, Collins tried to end the discussion and cut to commercial. But Cotton refused to let her cut him off, talking over Collins as he attacked Harris' stance on late-term abortions.
Watch the tense clip below or at this link.
