WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) took to the Senate Floor to highlight the importance of passing the Right to IVF Act, legislation that would establish a statutory right to access in vitro fertilization (IVF) and remove barriers for families seeking to start and grow a family with IVF. Sen. Welch’s remarks came ahead of Senate Republicans’ refusal to join Democrats in advancing the Right to IVF Act today. 

“We have a terrible United States Supreme Court. It will live in infamy for many reasons, but no more of an ignominious decision that took away constitutional rights that American citizens enjoyed. They stripped women of their right to choose. Enormously bad consequences: it’s created an incentive for folks who have their views, to try and impose them on others. And we saw that in Alabama with their effort to prohibit people from having access to in vitro fertilization,” said Senator Welch. 

“Now our Republican colleagues are saying that this is a ‘show vote,’ so why pay attention to it? Well, you know what? They’re right. They’re right,” continued Senator Welch. “It’s a vote to show that we want to make certain—with the power of the United States Congress—that the decision a family wants to make about trying to conceive through IVF is protected. That they have the capacity to take advantage of the best medicine that is out there to realize that dream that is a dream about life.” 

“And what’s wrong with showing the people of the United States that each and every one of us in the United States Senate wants to not only show that we respect and honor the decision those citizens are making, but with the power invested in us as United States Senators, we’re going to use the authority of our vote to guarantee they have that right?” concluded Senator Welch.  

Watch the Senator’s full remarks below: 

This Congress, Senator Welch joined the Access to Family Building Act, which would establish a statutory right to access IVF for all Americans who need it to start or grow a family by protecting access to IVF and other assisted reproductive technology nationwide. The bill has 46 Senate cosponsors. Senate Republicans blocked the legislation from being passed in February. 

Last week, Senator Welch delivered remarks on the Senate floor emphasizing the importance of passing the Right to Contraception Act, legislation that guarantees the right for people to obtain and use contraceptives and protects providers’ rights to prescribe contraceptives and provide information related to contraception, free from government interference. The bill passed the House of Representatives in July 2022 but was blocked in the Senate by Republicans in 2022, 2023, and 2024. 

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