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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 Murrays 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 Duckworths Access to Family Building Act, which would protect every Americans 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 Duckworths 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 Duckworths 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 treatmentsince the ruling, at least three IVF providers in Alabama have suspended IVF services.

This isnt some surprisethe Alabama Supreme Court decision is Republican ideology in action, said Senator Murray on the floor. So, spare me the empty statements Unless youre actually going to work with us to protect IVFplease, save your breath women have had their dreams shattered because Republicans believe a frozen embryo kept in storage at an IVF clinic is the sameand should have the exact same rightsas 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 actionand that is why just tried to pass the Access to Family Building Act. It doesnt get any more straightforward than that! And yet, just now, Republicans still blocked this billand 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 decisionan ideology supported by many Republican politicians that has terrifying consequences for the humanity and rights of pregnant women and could put an end to peoples ability to build families through IVF. IVF is overwhelmingly popular with Americansrecent 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 hadup from 33 percent five years ago.

Just last month, Murray and Duckworth introduced their Access to Family Building Act, which would protect every Americans 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 parentor their doctorsare punished for trying to start or grow their family.

After the Supreme Courts 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 moreand to access IVF and other assisted reproductive technology in order to build a familyare 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 Courts decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens 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 womens fundamental freedoms; she also co-leads the Womens 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 Murrays full floor speech, as delivered, is below:

I have said before that Republican attacks on reproductive freedom would never stop with Roethey 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 surprisedsuddenly acting like they had no idea this could happen, suddenly acting like this was totally unforeseenwhen it is exactly what we have been warning about, and exactly what the far right has been working towards for decades.

This isnt some surprisethe Alabama Supreme Court decision is Republican ideology in action.

So, spare me the empty statementsespecially after the objection that we just saw here. Unless youre actually going to work with us to protect IVFsave your breath.

There are women in Alabama who desperately want to start a familywomen 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 theyve been throughthe 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 sameand should have the exact same rightsas a living, breathing, human person.

Thats not hyperbole. That is not hypothetical. That is what is happening.

You dont have to imagine how painful this isyou 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 stateeven 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, its completely just derailed a lot of hope.

Kayla Lee spent nine years and eighty thousand dollars trying to have a child. Shes gone through several miscarriages and she was days awaydays away!from getting a viable embryo transferred. But instead of getting an embryo transplanted, she got the same heartbreaking phone callher 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 dont? They dont knowright now, no one knows.

The anger, Madam President. The anguish. The stories of these women are heartbreaking.

As IVF patient, Kelly Belmont, put it: Weve 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 childrenits absolutely terrifying Im just trying to hold myself together emotionally.

So powerful.

I dont know how anyone can listen to these stories, and still think politicians should be making womens health care decisions for them. I really dont.

Now, I said earlier, Republicans are acting surprised by the result of the very policies they have pushed forthey can save their breath. Thats 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 actionand that is why just tried to pass the Access to Family Building Act.

It doesnt get any more straightforward than that!

And yet, just now, Republicans still blocked this billand 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 watchingand they will not forget who is standing with families, in Alabama and across the countryand who is standing in their way.

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