In a recent push to safeguard reproductive rights, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, alongside a united front of 21 attorneys general, has called upon Congress to pass legislation ensuring access to assisted reproductive technologies such as in-vitro fertilization (IVF). The proposed Access to Family Building Act comes in response to a concerning Alabama Supreme Court ruling, which threatens the availability of vital reproductive health services by defining frozen embryos as "unborn children," potentially putting the practice of IVF at risk.
According to a statement from Raoul's office, the attorney general has urged congressional leaders from the Senate Health Committee and House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health to act quickly. "I am urging Congress to protect assisted reproductive technology because anyone who desires to become a parent deserves access to critical reproductive health services to build and grow their families," Raoul mentioned. The coalition argues that this act is vital in offering federal protection and expanding access to ART, aiming to prevent any limitations to the rights of patients in making their own reproductive healthcare choices.
The Access to Family Building Act, if passed, will mandate coverage of ART services by health insurers and establish a patient's right to these services without excessive restrictions or interference. The law would also reinforce the prerogative of individuals and couples to make autonomous decisions regarding their reproductive genetic materials. Despite the critical role that ART plays in the lives of various family arrangements, current roadblocks such as high medical costs and inconsistent insurance coverage make accessibility a significant hurdle for many aspiring parents.
The necessity of the act is underlined by the staggering costs associated with ART procedures, which average around $20,000 per cycle, a figure that is often out of reach for many, with the actual cost potentially skyrocketing depending on medical protocols and the number of attempts a patient undergoes. In the wake of Alabama's court decision, which subjected the destruction of embryos to the state's Wrongful Death of a Minor Act, IVF services came to an abrupt halt, leaving many mid-treatment patients in distress, the fear now is that other states might follow suit. As of today, only 21 states and the District of Columbia offer some degree of legal protection or insurance coverage for ART, but provisions vary widely in term and scope.
Raoul's coalition, which includes attorneys general from a cross-section of states such as California, New York, and Michigan, among others, emphasizes the importance of ART, highlighting its role in enabling thousands to start or expand their families. This includes cancer survivors, same-sex couples, individuals experiencing infertility, and those opting to parent solo. Annually, nearly 2% of all babies born in the U.S. are conceived using ART – a testament to the technology's entrenched position within the modern framework of family building.
