New federal bill supposed to protect IVF
State legislatures could potentially restrict IVF as they seek to undermine abortion access
A new congressional bill aims to protect In Vitro Fertilization from poorly worded legislation at the state level designed to curb abortion access.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (IL), Sen. Patty Murray (WA), and Rep. Susan Wild (PA) sponsored the Right to Build Families Act of 2022. The bill does several things, but most importantly it provides individuals with the right to file lawsuits against their state for violating their rights to IVF treatment.
Some have wondered how IVF would be affected by abortion restrictions. If personhood–or the point where legal protections extend to a human for the first time–begins at conception, then it would be possible to prosecute an IVF provider or researcher if a fertilized embryo were inadvertently destroyed. Many, including those with the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, have warned state legislators that their proposed restrictions could indirectly affect fertility treatments because of that connection.
Sean Tipton, chief advocacy and policy officer for ASRM, spoke with Repro Rights Now.
“When the Dobbs decision came down, essentially what that did was remove a stop sign that told legislators, ‘You cannot interfere with a woman's reproductive medical decisions,’” Tipton said. “And so this is trying to restore that protection for infertility treatments.”
If the bill were to pass, a person could file a lawsuit in federal court against their state. Under the law, the court would then have to enforce the federal rules pertaining to IVF.
Tipton doesn’t think it will pass this Congress, but he said they plan on attempting to pass it in the next one.
“From a legal standpoint, it is sort of attempting to ensure that there is not a slippery slope,” Tipton said. “So the Supreme Court has said states can definitely restrict abortion care. And maybe that means you can restrict all kinds of other things from contraception, and infertility care. This would stop the hole in that dam.”