On Monday, VA announced limited expansion in covered IVF services, Murray’s bill would expand IVF access to broader veteran and servicemember population and ensure a future administration cannot roll back IVF access
Senator Lankford blocked Murray’s Veterans Families Health Services Act, legislation she has worked on for over a decade that would expand DoD and VA health care to include comprehensive family-building assistance for servicemembers and veterans—including IVF
***WATCH: Senator Murray speaks on Senate Floor***
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, sought unanimous consent on the Senate Floor to pass her legislation, the Veteran Families Health Services Act, that would expand in vitro fertilization (IVF) care to all veterans and servicemembers who are unable to conceive without assistance—as well as expand access to other fertility treatments and family-building services. Senator James Lankford (R-OK) blocked the legislation.
On Monday, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced that VA will soon be able to provide IVF services to eligible unmarried veterans and eligible veterans in same-sex marriages, and allow veterans to use donated gametes in IVF services—following a similar move by the Department of Defense in January. In order to be eligible for care under current policy, veterans must have a service-connected injury or illness. Senator Murray’s legislation would drop this requirement and expand eligibility for covered IVF services to nearly all servicemembers and veterans who cannot conceive without assistance; her legislation would also protect existing access to IVF treatment for veterans and servicemembers—ensuring that a future administration could not roll back the recently-announced expansions in care. Murray’s legislation previously passed through the Senate in 2015.
“Right now, the majority of House Republicans are cosponsors of a national abortion ban that would enshrine fetal personhood in federal law, endangering IVF treatment everywhere,” Murray said on the Senate floor. “But if Republicans really do, now, want to support IVF… if they really do want to help people who are trying to grow their family, why not start with our veterans and servicemembers? These are the men and women who fought to protect our families—why don’t we make sure they have all the support they need to grow theirs?”
“I would hope that every one of my colleagues would agree that our country should keep that basic promise we make to our servicemembers to take care of them when they come home. That when a soldier comes home with injuries and subsequently needs IVF because of that to start a family—or really when any soldier needs IVF to start a family, they should be able to get it. So how about we take action right now to make that a reality. This should not be controversial—especially if Republicans are serious, even just in the slightest, about supporting IVF,” Murray said.
Senator Murray’s Veteran Families Health Services Act, which Republicans blocked today, would expand VA and DoD’s current fertility treatment and counseling offerings in a major way and empower servicemembers and veterans to start families when the time is right for them. This legislation would:
- Permanently authorize and significantly expand fertility treatment and counseling options, including assisted reproductive technology like IVF, to more veterans and servicemembers and ensure that veterans’ and servicemembers’ spouses, partners, and gestational surrogates are appropriately included in eligibility rules.
- Allow servicemembers to cryopreserve (freeze) their gametes (eggs or sperm) before deployment to a combat zone or hazardous duty assignment and after an injury or illness—an important proactive fertility service that is not currently covered under DoD health care.
- Expand adoption assistance at VA, providing more family-building options for veterans with infertility.
- Provide support for servicemembers and veterans to navigate their fertility options, find a provider that meets their needs, and ensure continuity of care after a permanent change of station or relocation.
- Require VA and DoD to facilitate research on the long-term reproductive health needs of veterans.
As the daughter of a disabled World War II veteran, Senator Murray knows firsthand the sacrifice that military service demands—Murray specifically asked to be seated on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee when she first came to Congress and was the first woman to serve on the committee and the first woman to later Chair the Committee. Murray has been fighting to expand access to IVF care for veterans and servicemembers for well over a decade—she has previously introduced legislation that would address many of the challenges veterans face when it comes to starting a family following their service, and in 2012, she secured Senate passage of a provision to end the ban on IVF services at VA. Since the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, Senator Murray has consistently fought to protect servicemembers’ and veterans’ access to the full range of reproductive care they deserve, including abortion care.
Senator Murray’s full remarks, as delivered, are below:
“Mr. President, I rise today in hopes of passing a bill, in a few minutes, that would support our veterans and our servicemembers by making sure that, when they want to grow their families, they can get the care and services they need—including IVF.
“The recent chaos in Alabama, caused by far-right ideology, put a national spotlight on just how crucial IVF is to so many women and families who are desperately hoping, and trying, to have children.
“The first thing we heard after IVF was thrown into uncertainty in Alabama, was the horror of women and their families who had their dreams turned into nightmares as appointments were canceled, tens of thousands of dollars, months of appointments, were callously tossed out the window by Alabama’s Supreme Court.
“Its decision rested on extreme ideology—an ideology Republicans are working right now to enshrine into law nationwide.
“Next, we heard Republicans tripping over themselves to proclaim that they stand for IVF—even while still standing by the same, extreme ‘fetal personhood’ laws that caused all of this chaos in the first place.
“I have said this before—but given how Republicans refuse to publicly disavow fetal personhood, it clearly bears repeating: when Republicans support legislation that says a fertilized egg has the same rights and protections as a living, breathing, human person—that is fundamentally incompatible with supporting IVF! That is the very ideology that caused the disaster in Alabama!
“And right now, the majority of House Republicans are cosponsors of a national abortion ban that would enshrine fetal personhood in federal law, endangering IVF treatment everywhere.
“But if Republicans really do, now, want to support IVF, if they really do want to help people who are trying to grow their family, why not start with our veterans and servicemembers?
“These are the men and women who fought to protect our families—why don’t we make sure they have all the support they need to grow theirs?
“I reintroduced a bill with Senator Duckworth last year, the Veteran Families Health Services Act, that would do just that.
“I’ve been working to pass this bill for well over a decade now. It has gone through countless rounds of technical edits and review, and it is more than ready for prime time. And this is exactly the kind of straightforward, legislation that we should pass through unanimous consent. It hasn’t just passed Committee before—it actually passed the Senate before!
“The goal of this bill is simple—it expands the fertility treatments and family-building services that are covered under servicemembers’ and veterans’ health care.
“That means finally having the coverage that gives servicemembers and veterans the option to freeze eggs or sperm before deployment. It means expanding adoption assistance at the VA, and Mr. President—it means expanding access to IVF for all of our veterans and servicemembers. Current coverage policies for VA and DOD still leave out many committed, loving people who want to start a family.
“We are talking about a bill that would help our wounded warriors get the care and coverage they need to start a family.
“I’m really glad DOD and VA have been taking some steps under President Biden to offer this care to more people—including the expansion that the VA announced just yesterday—but we still have a long ways to go.
“I would hope that every one of my colleagues would agree that our country should keep that basic promise we make to our servicemembers to take care of them when they come home—that when a soldier comes home with injuries, and subsequently needs IVF because of that to start a family—or really when any solider needs IVF to start a family, they should be able to get it.
“So how about we take action right now, today, to make that a reality.
“This should not be controversial, especially if Republicans are serious—even in the slightest—about supporting IVF.
“This bill is just saying, ‘yes,’ we want to make sure all our veterans—all our servicemembers have access to family-building services and fertility treatments they need.
“Given all that we have heard in recent weeks—this should be hugely bipartisan. If you stand by our veterans, if you stand by IVF, if you want to see our military families growing and thriving, we need to send that message now—and send this legislation, that I will be asking unanimous consent on shortly, to the President’s desk as soon as possible.”
After Senator Lankford blocked passage of the bill, Senator Murray said:
“Mr. President, I am deeply disappointed but not surprised. Let the record show I have been trying to pass this legislation into law for well over a decade—it wasn’t yesterday, it wasn’t last year, for well over a decade. And for the entire time, Republicans have been the ones who have blocked efforts to include this bill in any kind of legislative package.
“I really hoped after the outpouring of public statements in support of IVF from my colleagues across the aisle, they might finally change their tune. But the American people understand that actions speak louder than words.
“On the unofficial CBO score that was mentioned, let’s just say—I think it’s a real overestimate of how many people dealing with infertility would make use of IVF and other fertility services, at that cost.
“And my understanding is, it also adds the cost of children conceived through IVF being covered on VA health care for the rest of their childhood, which doesn’t make a lot of sense since many of those families will have children one way or the other, anyway.
“So, I dispute that. But I will say, it’s pretty clear Republicans do not support IVF, despite their language—not even for wounded servicemembers and for veterans.
“But having said that, Mr. President, my door is open, I am determined. If a member of our country goes overseas and is wounded and comes home and cannot conceive a family, we should be there to provide services for them. It is our promise to our veterans that when they serve us, we will take care of them when they get home. What is not more basic than making sure they can have a family after serving our country?
“So, I am disappointed once again, but Mr. President, I will not stop working on this—it’s the right thing to do.”
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