Republican Senator Tom Cotton gets into furious spat with CNN's Kaitlan Collins live on air

Republican Senator Tom Cotton clashed with CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins live on air after GOP senators on Tuesday tanked a bill protecting access to in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and other fertility treatments for a second time this year. 

The interview started off hostile with Collins asking the Arkansas lawmaker if he would have voted for a similar bill if Donald Trump were in office.

The ex-president on the campaign trail has called for the government paying for or ensuring insurance pays all costs for fertility treatment. 

'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 right out of the gate about the Democrats' legislation. 

Cotton said there is 'no risk to IVF in this country,' claimed 49 senators along with Trump support IVF and said no state bans or restricts IVF. 

Collins pointed out she made no statements about that in her introduction. 

'You said that it had to guarantee access,' Cotton countered. 'Access is guaranteed in all fifty states right now.'

'You also said it was about IVF. It was 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,' Cotton claimed.

The senator also argued it would 'imperil religious liberty.' He started to attack Democrats accusing them of 'persecuting Christians' and wanting to provide contraceptive coverage 'for nuns.' 

Collins cut the senator off and he became visibly irritated. 

'That's what this bill is about Kaitlin,' Cotton said raising his voice. 'No, Kaitlin, you're not going to stop me there because you're misrepresenting what this bill's about.'

Collins tried to steer the conversation back to the legislation itself. 

'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,' Collins accurately pointed out. 

'The issue which I know well because it happened in my home state of Alabama is a court ruling that embryos count as children,' she added.

The fight over IVF protections erupted earlier this year after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that embryos are children.

The decision sparked outrage across the country and put thousands of families trying to have children through IVF in limbo.

Collins noted that clinics closed as a result because they were concerned about lawsuits. After weeks of chaos and treatments being paused, the state passed a law protecting access.

'That is why this is an issue,' Collins said. 'And your candidate Donald Trump has said that he would like to see IVF and people have access to this, so do you support guaranteeing access to IVF, so a ruling like that one in Alabama would not imperil someone's access to it by clinics saying "well I'm worried about facing a lawsuit here or criminal charges"?'

Cotton claimed the example of Alabama proves his point. He argued the 'political branches' in the state 'promptly passed a new law' that guaranteed access in the state.

'This bill in the  Senate was not about guaranteeing access to IVF, which is not threatened in any state,' Cotton claimed, disregarding the reality other courts, like Alabama's Supreme Court, could deliver similar rulings down the line.

Cotton argued the bill was about 'radical, experimental, controversial treatments' and repeated his attack on Democrats.

Collins doubled down that it would guarantee access. She also pointed out it does not require anyone to perform any procedures.

'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 was something that was put up there, and it would have guaranteed access to IVF,' Collins stated. 

She went on to ask about Trump's plan to have the government pay for or ensure insurance covers the cost of fertility treatment including whether the campaign has said how the government would pay for it.

The ex-president announced his proposal last month during a campaign event in Potterville, MI. 

 'We haven't gotten that far Kaitlan,' Cotton said on paying for it. He said he and other lawmakers would have questions about the cost to taxpayers, insurance premiums and protecting religious liberties. 

His comments signaled there could be challenges within the GOP to move forward with the ex-president's proposal should he be elected in November.

Collins asked how Americans would know Trump's proposal is real if there is no plan to pay for it. 

'Well Kaitlin, again, IVF is not at risk in any state,' Cotton repeated and pointed to Alabama's legislature acting in response to its Supreme Court. 

Collins did not miss a beat and countered asking why the legislature had to act if treatment was not at risk. 

'Because of a Supreme Court decision,' Cotton said. 

Collins nodded along as if he was proving her point: 'that imperiled access to IVF.'

 On paying for Trump's plan, Cotton said they can 'review those details at a future time.'

Republicans blocking Democrats' Right to IVF Act on Tuesday after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer forced a vote on it with just 50 days to go before the election. Republicans also blocked the bill from moving forward in June.

Democrats need 60 votes in the Senate to pass the bill but only have a 51 seat majority. 

The vote failed 51-44 even as every Democrat and Independent who caucuses with them voted in favor of the legislation.