09.16.24

Durbin: Republican Will Have Another Chance To Show The American People Where They Stand On IVF With Right to IVF Act Vote Tomorrow

WASHINGTON – In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called on Senate Republicans to show the American people where they stand on in vitro fertilization (IVF) when the Senate votes on the Right to IVF Act tomorrow.  The legislation, which Durbin is a cosponsor of, establishes a clear and enforceable nationwide right to receive, provide, or cover IVF services and other assisted reproductive technologies.  It also expands insurance coverage for such care.  Senate Republicans previously filibustered the legislation in June, with only two Republicans supporting the bill.

Durbin began his speech by highlighting the stark contrast between Vice President Harris and former President Trump when it comes to reproductive rights. 

“The question of women’s reproductive freedom continues to be a matter of critical importance ahead of the upcoming election.  At the presidential debate last week, it became clear that the two candidates could not be further apart on the issue.  The former President took credit for the ‘great service’ he did in erasing the constitutional right under Roe v Wade.  On the other hand, Vice President Harris asked us to consider what abortion bans mean for young survivors of rape or incest who are forced to carry pregnancies to term, or for women who miscarry and are repeatedly denied access to life-saving care.   That is the world we live in today because of the Dobbs decision—because of Donald Trump and his success in choosing three of the ultraconservative Supreme Court justices who overruled Roe v. Wade,” said Durbin.

Durbin continued, “Make no mistake:  The former President sees the polls and he knows that limiting women’s access to make their own decisions on reproductive care and choice is widely unpopular—even in conservative, red states.  That is why former President Trump is twisting himself into knots trying to have it both ways: Taking credit for overruling Roe v. Wade to appease his base while refusing to acknowledge all of the suffering that has resulted from it.”

Overruling Roe v. Wade unleashed a health care crisis in America and has been accompanied by a troubling increase in fetal personhood laws that threaten access to assisted reproductive technologies, including IVF. Following the Alabama Supreme Court’s ruling that frozen embryos are “children” under state law, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a full hearing to examine the disturbing trend of attacking women’s reproductive freedoms.  During the hearing, the Committee heard moving testimony from Jamie Heard, an Alabama woman whose IVF treatment was interrupted by this extreme decision.  The Committee also heard compelling testimony from U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), who was able to have her two children with the help of IVF.

Durbin said, “Whether, when, and how to expand one’s family is a private, personal matter.  Every American should be able to access the care and resources they need to start a family however they choose.   Yet, when the Senate last considered this bill in June, only two Senate Republicans voted to consider the bill.  The rest of the Republican caucus filibustered this critical legislation.  They say they’re for IVF [yet] they won’t vote for the bill that guarantees it will be legally there.  Republicans, led by former President Trump, know that the American people do not support this extreme position, and they are desperate to fool us into thinking they don’t mean what they say.  Well, they will have another chance to show the American people where they really stand on IVF tomorrow.  Because if Republicans really support privacy, freedom, and the right to access IVF treatment, they are going to join us on a bipartisan basis to consider this bill.  They can’t have it both ways and claim to support IVF while voting against legislation that protects the rights of families to make that decision.”

Durbin concluded, “I might add parenthetically that this is personal to me as well.  I have two beautiful grandkids who are the product of IVF, and I am so happy that that happened… They’re 12 years old now, and we're so happy to have them.  IVF was the reason they’re here, and this notion that we're going to play games with this treatment is unfair to families who are desperate to have children and make them part of their future.”

Video of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here.

Audio of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here.

Footage of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here for TV Stations.

One in seven women in the United States, age 15-49, have trouble getting pregnant or sustaining a pregnancy.  In 2022, 91,771 infants born (or 2.5 percent of all infants born in the U.S.) were conceived through the use of assisted reproductive technologies.  According to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, as of 2022, there were 4,902 babies in Illinois born from IVF.

The March 2024 hearing came after two previous hearings the Committee has held on reproductive freedoms since Roe was overruled—one in July 2022 and one in April 2023.  Since Dobbs, the reproductive health care landscape in America has become more unsettled, resulting in women across the country—whether or not they live in states where abortion is restricted or banned—facing negative and sometimes life-threatening outcomes. According to ProPublica reporting this week, at least one woman has died because she was not able to access necessary abortion-related health care in Georgia.

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