Dem Women’s Caucus, Rep. Wild Demand Action to Protect IVF and Reproductive Health Care

***WATCH A VIDEO OF THE PRESS CONFERENCE HERE***

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Democratic Women’s Caucus (DWC) and Rep. Susan Wild held a press conference demanding action on Rep. Wild’s Access to Family Building Act to protect IVF and reproductive health care, following the Alabama Supreme Court ruling threatening access to IVF.  The ruling—which afforded frozen embryos the same protections as children—has curtailed access to IVF across the state as multiple providers, including the University of Alabama Birmingham, have halted IVF services.

The press conference featured DWC Chair Lois Frankel, Rep. Susan Wild, House lead of the Access to Family Building Act, Whip Katherine Clark, and Rep. Terri Sewell, the only Democrat and woman in the Alabama delegation. DWC members Rep. Lori Trahan, Rep. Susie Lee, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Rep. Kamlager-Dove also shared personal stories about their experiences with IVF.

“Our message is clear: reproductive freedom means that women must be able to access the health care they need to control their own lives and futures,” said Chair Frankel. “The Alabama IVF case was not an aberration; it was a warning. That’s why today, in our fight for reproductive freedom, we announced our support for legislation that protects the use of IVF nationwide.”

“Let me be clear: [the Alabama State Supreme Court] ruling, and any barriers to assisted reproductive technology, are unacceptable and cruel,” said Rep. Wild. “It’s why Congress must pass my bill, the Access to Family Building Act, immediately, to send a message to the entire country that we are fighting for their right to make decisions about their own bodies, their own journey through parenthood, and to start their families however they see fit.”

"This is Post-Roe America. This is the Republican dream realized into a waking nightmare," said Democratic Whip Katherine Clark. "And it can still get much, much worse. The GOP is telling us Dobbs was just the beginning. They want to ban abortion nationwide and restrict access to birth control and IVF in every state and every zip code. They’re clear about their mission. But so are we: House Democrats will fight until reproductive freedom is the law of the land."

“As the only Democrat in Alabama's Congressional Delegation, I join in expressing my outrage over the recent ruling effectively banning IVF treatments for women who are simply trying to have children. It unimaginable that in the year 2024 we would be fighting this fight, but everywhere we look, old battles have become new again as MAGA extremists work to erode our hard-fought rights and freedoms and roll back our progress. Women in Alabama deserve access to a full range of reproductive health care services and that include IVF treatments. Congress should pass Congresswoman Wild’s Access to Family Building Act and codify the protections of Roe v. Wade,” said Rep. Sewell.

“I wake every day so grateful that IVF gave me two beautiful daughters who are the light of my life. Every week I fly to Washington, I drop my girls off at the bus stop, give them a hug, and tell them how much I love them. That hug was a little longer than usual this week because I know there are thousands of women in Alabama who are having the same opportunity I did ripped away from them,” said Congresswoman Lori Trahan. “We must pass the Access to Family Building Act to protect IVF access nationwide, and we must go even further by restoring and strengthening the reproductive rights that have been systematically stripped from women by cruel, unnecessary Republican abortion bans.”

“Because of IVF, I was able to create a family, and without it, I would not have my two incredible children,” said Congresswoman Susie Lee. “Alabama is the first step in the far-right's plan to rob women of the opportunity to become a mother and yet another step in restricting women's freedoms.”

“My husband and I had trouble conceiving when I was just 29 years old, but I finally did through IVF. Seeing this struggle up close, I’ve fought to expand insurance coverage for costly fertility treatments. And as a breast cancer survivor, I’m also concerned with how a diagnosis and treatment affects a survivor’s ability to start a family. For so many survivors like me with a BRCA gene mutation, or other forms of cancer, IVF can be a godsend, yet now it’s clouded in uncertainty,” said Rep. Wasserman Schultz. “My daughters and son will need to be tested.  If they carry the gene, when they are ready to have children, they can go through IVF. Thanks to genetic research, embryos can be tested and those without the BRCA mutation can be implanted, ending our family’s generational cycle of increased cancer risks. Giving personhood to embryos would end this lifesaving procedure and cause more cancer in more families like mine. We must fight for our freedoms, and make sure everyone knows the stakes. That’s why we must pass Rep. Wild’s Access to Family Building Act.”

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