Durbin Statement on Senate Republicans Voting Against the Right to IVF Act

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. 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.

“Whether, when, and how to expand one’s family is a private, personal matter, and every American should be able to access the care and resources they need to start a family however they choose.  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 vote against 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 (ART). According to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, as of 2022, there were 4,902 babies in Illinois born from IVF.

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