09.17.24

Durbin Statement On Senate Republicans Voting Against Nationwide IVF Protections For The Second Time

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today released the following statement after Senate Republicans voted against the Right to IVF Act for the second time this Congress.  The legislation, which Durbin is a cosponsor of, establishes a clear and enforceable nationwide right to receive, provide, or cover in vitro fertilization (IVF) services and other assisted reproductive technologies.  It also expands insurance coverage for such care.  Durbin spoke on the Senate floor in support of the legislation yesterday.

“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.  Today is no different.  The fact that such a simple, yet fundamental, matter is up for debate in 2024 is astonishing.  It’s alarming that my Republican colleagues would choose to filibuster such legislation and is proof positive that Democrats are the party of family values.”

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.

-30-