Kaine Statement After Senate Republicans Again Block Legislation to Protect IVF

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement after Senate Republicans blocked the Right to IVF Act, legislation he cosponsored to protect and expand access to in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and other assisted reproductive technology (ART) services nationwide:

"It is deeply unfortunate that some of my colleagues have once again blocked the Right to IVF Act - legislation to safeguard and enhance access to the crucial fertility care that millions of Americans rely on," said Kaine. "Virginians and all Americans deserve the ability to make their own decisions about their health and whether and when to start a family without government interference. Since the first IVF baby in America, Elizabeth Carr, was born in Norfolk, Virginia in 1981, millions of Americans have turned to IVF as a beacon of hope to start or grow their families. I'm not done fighting to make IVF and ART services available and affordable for any American who wants or needs them."

The Right to IVF Act includes provisions from three bills Kaine cosponsored: the Access to Family Building Act, Veteran Families Health Services Act, and Family Building FEHB Fairness Act. The Access to Family Building Act would establish a statutory right for individuals to access IVF and ART services and for providers to provide IVF and ART services. The Veteran Families Health Services Act would enhance fertility treatment and counseling options for veterans and servicemembers, and expand servicemembers' access to fertility services before deployment to a combat zone or hazardous duty assignment and after an injury or illness. The Family Building FEHB Fairness Act, which Kaine announced his cosponsorship of earlier this month, would require that insurance providers for more than 8 million federal employees provide coverage for IVF and ART.

Kaine has long championed efforts to protect reproductive freedom and IVF. In March, Kaine invited Norfolk-born Elizabeth Carr, the first person born in the United States via IVF, to join him as his guest at the State of the Union. Kaine held two roundtables in Norfolk and Arlington to discuss the need to protect IVF. In June, Kaine and his colleagues introduced the Right to IVF Act for the first time. And after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, Kaine worked across the aisle to introduce the Reproductive Freedom For All Act, a bipartisan bill to protect access to abortion and contraception.

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