Cantwell, Colleagues Push to Lower IVF Costs for Families & Establish a Nationwide Right to IVF

Cantwell, Colleagues Push to Lower IVF Costs for Families & Establish a Nationwide Right to IVF

Proposal coincides with World IVF Day on July 25; Amid attacks on reproductive healthcare, legislation would require IVF coverage by health insurance & block states from banning fertility treatments

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Ahead of World IVF Day on July 25, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, joined Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Patty Murray (D-WA), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) in reintroducing the Right to IVF Act, a sweeping legislative package that would make it easier to access in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and other assisted reproductive technology (ART) for the millions of hopeful parents who depend on it to build their family.

Coming nearly two years after President Donald Trump promised free IVF for all Americans on the campaign trail, this pro-family legislation would establish a nationwide right to access IVF, lower the costs of IVF treatment, expand IVF coverage for military families, and require all employer-sponsored insurance programs to cover IVF.

In 2024, for the first time more than 100,000 babies were born nationwide in a single year thanks to IVF. In Washington, over 2,300 babies born thanks to IVF. Last Congress, Sen. Cantwell cosponsored the Right to IVF Act and called for its passage. Nearly every Republican senator opposed the bill, which marked the fourth time Senate Republicans blocked legislation that would protect access to IVF nationwide.

Building on the lawmakers' previous efforts to protect and strengthen access to IVF, this pro-family, pro-freedom legislative package includes:

• The Protect IVF Act, led by Sen. Duckworth, which would establish a nationwide right for patients to access IVF and other ART services, a right for doctors to provide IVF treatment in accordance with medical standards as well as a right for insurance carriers to cover IVF without prohibition, limitation, interference or impediment. By establishing a statutory right, this would pre-empt any state effort to limit such access and ensuring no hopeful parent-or their doctors-are punished for trying to start or grow a family.
• The Veteran Families Health Services Act, led by Sen. Murray, which would expand the fertility treatments and family-building services that are covered under servicemembers' and veterans' health care to include-among other things-the option for individuals to cryopreserve their gametes (freeze their eggs or sperm) ahead of deployment to a combat zone and IVF for servicemembers and veterans who are unable to conceive without assistance.
• The Access to Infertility Treatment and Care Act, led by Sen. Booker, which would increase affordability of fertility care-including IVF-by requiring employer-sponsored insurance plans and public insurance plans to cover fertility treatments. Additionally, it would standardize a baseline of high-quality fertility treatment coverage under private health insurance plans, while protecting Americans against excessive out-of-pocket costs.
• The Family Building FEHB Fairness Act, led by Sen. Duckworth, which would require Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program-the largest employer-sponsored health insurance plan in the world-carriers to cover IVF and ART to help more hardworking Americans start and grow their families.

Full text of the legislation can be found HERE.

In addition to Sens. Cantwell, Duckworth, Murray, Booker, and Schumer, the legislation is cosponsored by the entire U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus.

Companion legislation is being introduced in the House by U.S. Representatives Lori Trahan (D-MA-03), James Walkinshaw (D-VA-11), Rick Larsen (D-WA-02), Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03), and Laura Gillen (D-NY-04).

The Right to IVF Act is supported by over 40 organizations representing patients, doctors, and healthcare providers, including the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), the National Women's Law Center (NWLC), the Human Rights Campaign, MomsRising, and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM).

Sen. Cantwell has repeatedly championed reproductive freedom, including expanding access to IVF.

In June 2024, Sen. Cantwell called on her colleagues to pass the Right to IVF Act. After Senate Republicans blocked the bill in September 2024, Sen. Cantwell sharply criticized their votes, saying in a floor speech, "We are making women travel all over just to get care, and now we're telling Americans we don't even know if we believe in IVF. This nonsense has to stop."