Schatz Votes To Protect IVF Access Nationwide

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today voted to protect and expand access to IVF nationwide. The Right to IVF Act failed to pass the Senate after all but two Republicans voted against it for the second time in just over three months. Ahead of the vote, Schatz highlighted a local family from Hawai‘i who conceived their child, Nalu, through IVF.

At a press conference ahead of vote, Schatz holds up photo of Hawai‘i family that used IVF to start a family

“Today, for the second time in 3 months, Republicans voted against protecting IVF. Many of them claim to be supportive of IVF. All of them profess to be pro-life. But given a chance to be both, they failed,” said Senator Schatz.

Schatz continued, “Republicans are doing a lot of mental gymnastics to try and justify their cruel extremism on this issue. But let’s be very clear about what the Right to IVF Act does. It protects every American’s right to access IVF and lowers the cost of the treatment for families who need it. That means anyone struggling to start or grow a family can undergo IVF without fear of interference or punishment by the government. And think about the fact that we have to make a law that says families should not be punished for trying to start a family. That’s what this bill does. It says you should have access to this care and cannot be punished for trying to start a family.”

The full text of Senator Schatz’s remarks is below. Video is available here.

Here, in this chamber, it’s your vote that counts. Not your tweets, not your public statements, not your TV interviews. But your votes. And today, for the second time in 3 months, Republicans voted against protecting IVF. Many of them claim to be supportive of IVF. All of them profess to be pro-life. But given a chance to be both, they failed.

Republicans are doing a lot of mental gymnastics to try and justify their cruel extremism on this issue. But let’s be very clear about what the Right to IVF Act does. It protects every American’s right to access IVF and lowers the cost of the treatment for families who need it. That means anyone struggling to start or grow a family can undergo IVF without fear of interference or punishment by the government. And think about the fact that we have to make a law that says families should not be punished for trying to start a family. That’s what this bill does. It says you should have access to this care and cannot be punished for trying to start a family.

It means providers can administer the treatment without worrying that they’ll be thrown in jail or have their license taken away, just for doing their jobs. And it means insurers can cover IVF without implementing absurd restrictions and onerous requirements that would make it all but impossible to access this miraculous treatment.

What this bill is is a commonsense measure that is necessary precisely because of the environment Republicans have created with the fall of Roe. An environment where over half of women of reproductive age in America now live in states hostile to abortion rights. And let’s be clear: Republicans did that, through their vessel of the United States Supreme Court.

And so they can pretend to be for IVF but vote against the bill that would actually protect it for good. They can pretend to be for life while also trying to restrict access to miraculous treatments that creates life. They can pretend to have their own bill to support IVF when it in fact that bill literally does the opposite. It literally does the opposite.

Because here it’s your vote that counts. It is not your rhetoric. It is not your statement. It is not even your explanation. They voted no against IVF. And shame on them.

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