ICYMI: Senators Murray, Duckworth, Schumer, Baldwin, Klobuchar Lead Press Conference Denouncing Alabama IVF Decision, Calling for Passage of Legislation to Protect Right to IVF
ICYMI: New Legislation From Senators Murray, Duckworth Would Protect Right to Access IVF, Other Assisted Reproductive Technology in the Face of Republican Attacks
**VIDEO from Murray’s floor speech HERE***
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), joined Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) in seeking unanimous consent to pass Murray and Duckworth’s Access to Family Building Act, which would protect every American’s right to access in vitro fertilization (IVF) and other assisted reproductive technology (ART) services that millions of Americans rely on to have children. U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) blocked passage of Murray and Duckworth’s bill.
Murray and Duckworth were joined on the floor by many of their Senate Democratic colleagues, all speaking in support of their bill. Murray and Duckworth’s latest push to pass their bill to protect IVF comes after the Alabama Supreme Court ruling on Friday that frozen embryos created through IVF are considered “extrauterine children” under state law, and calling for passage of legislation that would establish a statutory, nationwide right to access IVF treatment. The decision sparked concerns that embryos that are destroyed or damaged could lead to civil liability, which would have sweeping implications for fertility treatment—since the ruling, at least three IVF providers in Alabama have suspended IVF services.
“This isn’t some surprise—the Alabama Supreme Court decision is Republican ideology in action,” said Senator Murray on the floor. “So, spare me the empty statements… Unless you’re actually going to work with us to protect IVF—please, save your breath… women have had their dreams shattered because Republicans believe a frozen embryo kept in storage at an IVF clinic is the same—and should have the exact same rights—as a living, breathing, human person.”
“Many of the same Republicans saying they care now about IVF are literally, right now, cosponsors of legislation that would enshrine fetal personhood into law and make IVF unavailable nationwide,” continued Senator Murray. “You cannot support IVF and support fetal personhood laws. They are fundamentally incompatible! Instead of empty words, Democrats want to see action—and that is why just tried to pass the Access to Family Building Act. It doesn’t get any more straightforward than that! And yet, just now, Republicans still blocked this bill—and showed their true colors when it comes to IVF.”
In her floor speech, Senator Murray forcefully denounced the Alabama ruling and the far-right ideology of “fetal personhood” underlying the decision—an ideology supported by many Republican politicians that has terrifying consequences for the humanity and rights of pregnant women and could put an end to people’s ability to build families through IVF. IVF is overwhelmingly popular with Americans—recent polling found that 85 percent of Americans support increasing access to fertility-related procedures and services. A survey from Pew Research Center in September found that 42 percent of adults say they have used fertility treatments or personally know someone who had—up from 33 percent five years ago.
Just last month, Murray and Duckworth introduced their Access to Family Building Act, which would protect every American’s right to access IVF and other assisted reproductive technology (ART) services that millions of Americans rely on to have children. Building on the Right to Build Families Act the lawmakers had introduced in the previous Congress, the new legislation would establish a statutory right to access IVF and other ART services, thereby pre-empting any state effort to limit such access and ensuring no hopeful parent—or their doctors—are punished for trying to start or grow their family.
After the Supreme Court’s disastrous Dobbs ruling, many women have not only seen their constitutional right to abortion ripped away from them as a result of state abortion bans, but their ability to get treatment for cancer, lupus and more—and to access IVF and other assisted reproductive technology in order to build a family—are also under threat. The new patchwork of state abortion bans has created significant confusion among patients and providers alike about what services doctors can and cannot provide in states with the most restrictive laws, leading IVF centers to call for new protections.
Senator Murray is a longtime leader in the fight to protect and expand access to reproductive health care and, after the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturning Roe v. Wade, Murray has led Congressional efforts to fight back. Murray has introduced more than a dozen pieces of legislation to protect reproductive rights from further attacks, protect providers, and help ensure women get the care they need and repeatedly sought unanimous consent to pass common-sense bills to protect women’s fundamental freedoms; she also co-leads the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would restore the right to abortion nationwide, and has been leading Congressional efforts to make over-the-counter birth control affordable. In January, Senator Murray led Senate Democrats in hosting a briefing on the State of Abortion Rights across America, where senators heard powerful testimony from individuals who had been personally harmed by Republicans’ abortion bans.
Senator Murray’s full floor speech, as delivered, is below:
“I have said before that Republican attacks on reproductive freedom would never stop with Roe—they would never stop with abortion.
“I have said before, IVF was at risk.
“And now it has been so heartbreaking to see that warning become a gut-wrenching reality for women in Alabama.
“And it is absolutely infuriating to see some of the same Republicans who support so-called ‘fetal personhood’ bills, who want to codify the very ideology in the Alabama Supreme Court decision that ripped away access to IVF care suddenly acting surprised—suddenly acting like they had no idea this could happen, suddenly acting like this was totally unforeseen—when it is exactly what we have been warning about, and exactly what the far right has been working towards for decades.
“This isn’t some surprise—the Alabama Supreme Court decision is Republican ideology in action.
“So, spare me the empty statements—especially after the objection that we just saw here. Unless you’re actually going to work with us to protect IVF—save your breath.
“There are women in Alabama who desperately want to start a family—women who have tried for years to get pregnant, who have gone through the heartbreak of miscarriage, women who are battling cancer, and other devastating diagnoses, for whom IVF is the only way they will be able to have children.
“And now, after everything they’ve been through—the hope and disappointment, the thousands, even tens of thousands of dollars it can cost to pursue IVF…
“After all that, these women have had their dreams shattered because Republicans believe a frozen embryo kept in storage at an IVF clinic is the same—and should have the exact same rights—as a living, breathing, human person.
“That’s not hyperbole. That is not hypothetical. That is what is happening.
“You don’t have to imagine how painful this is—you just have to listen to the women in Alabama who have had their worlds turned upside-down now by this decision.
“Meghan Cole has a rare blood disease, prevents her from safely carrying children. Her hopes of starting a family through IVF and a surrogate were dashed last week when her doctor called to cancel her Friday appointment. She asked about transferring the embryos out of state—even that door has been slammed shut to her.
“Jasmine York turned to IVF after previous ectopic pregnancies left her with no other options to have a baby. Now, Alabama has left her with no options at all. As she said, ‘it’s completely just derailed a lot of hope.’
“Kayla Lee spent nine years and eighty thousand dollars trying to have a child. She’s gone through several miscarriages and she was days away—days away!—from getting a viable embryo transferred. But instead of getting an embryo transplanted, she got the same heartbreaking phone call—her hopes of a family were being put on hold.
“Years of trying, tens of thousands of dollars, and at the last moment Republicans pulled the rug out from under her.
“Even families who already have gone through IVF are facing the fallout. Can they afford to pay and store unused embryos indefinitely? Can they be prosecuted if they don’t? They don’t know—right now, no one knows.
“The anger, Madam President. The anguish. The stories of these women are heartbreaking.
“As IVF patient, Kelly Belmont, put it: ‘We’ve already invested so much time and money and just physical and emotional anguish into this process, and to think that it could have all been for nothing and that we could be ending our journey to be able to have children—it’s absolutely terrifying… I’m just trying to hold myself together emotionally.’
“So powerful.
“I don’t know how anyone can listen to these stories, and still think politicians should be making women’s health care decisions for them. I really don’t.
“Now, I said earlier, Republicans are acting surprised by the result of the very policies they have pushed for—they can save their breath. That’s because actions speak louder than words.
“And many of the same Republicans saying they care now about IVF are literally, right now, cosponsors of legislation that would enshrine fetal personhood into law and make IVF unavailable nationwide. You cannot support IVF and support fetal personhood laws. They are fundamentally incompatible!
“Madam President, instead of empty words, Democrats want to see action—and that is why just tried to pass the Access to Family Building Act.
“It doesn’t get any more straightforward than that!
“And yet, just now, Republicans still blocked this bill—and showed their true colors when it comes to IVF.
“I am frustrated, Madam President. But I am not done fighting.
“Because I know Americans are watching—and they will not forget who is standing with families, in Alabama and across the country—and who is standing in their way.”
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