New Yorkers Reintroduce Bill to Ensure Access to IVF

WASHINGTON — A  pair of lawmakers from New York, Reps. Mike Lawler, a Republican, and Laura Gillen, a Democrat, have reintroduced a bill that’s been floated in every Congress since 2022 that would establish a federal legal right to in-vitro fertilization and other assisted reproductive services.

Since the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, in which a majority of justices held the U.S. Constitution does not confer a federal right to an abortion or access to abortion services, a number of lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have attempted to codify a right to access to fertility treatments and other “family-building” tools with little to no success.

The latest iteration of the bill would create enforceable rights for the protection of individuals to access in-vitro fertilization, health care providers to perform the procedure and insurers to provide coverage for it.

The bill also specifically empowers the U.S. attorney general to commence a civil action against any state, local municipality, or against any government official who interferes with the bill’s protected rights.

Commenting on the bipartisan nature of the bill during a Zoom call with reporters, Gillen said she believes it’s “really important to demonstrate that this is not a partisan issue.”

“This is one of the easy ones for us to agree on,” she said. “We want to support couples and individuals who want to bring a child into the world, and for whom IVF may be the only way they can do that.

“This is something that many families face, and we want to make sure they have the access to the health care they need to make that dream of parenthood come true,” she added.

The reality, Lawler said, is that the issue of infertility transcends politics.

“It cuts across all barriers, and I think going back to the last Congress and continuing on through today, we’ve been able to build consensus around this issue,” he said.

“There’s obviously still a lot of work to do in the legislative process to get bills passed, and that’s what we’re now going to undertake here, but this — having the bill reintroduced with bipartisan support — will obviously be a big help when it comes to the resumption of consensus-building,” he said.

“You know, when it comes to Congress and politics is the focus, oftentimes there’s a lot more press coverage on our disagreements than what we agree on. What an issue like this does, is it shows that there are often a lot more areas of agreement between us than people realize,” Lawler said.

Though Lawler said he’s yet to speak to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., about the bill, both he and Gillen said they believe there’s never been a more auspicious time to pass the measure.

“The key thing is the president has been clear he supports access to IVF and enshrining that into law and protecting that right for folks … and so we’re going to advocate for that vociferously, and we’re going to work through the legislative process and work with the administration to pass legislation that will have a positive and meaningful impact on folks trying to build their families,” he said.

“The time to get it done is now,” Gillen agreed.

Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue