WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) joined Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and his Democratic Senate colleagues on the steps of the U.S. Senate ahead of chamber’s second attempt to pass the Right to IVF Act, which was blocked today by most Senate Republicans. The Right to IVF Act, legislation cosponsored by Senator Welch, would protect access to IVF and remove financial barriers for families seeking to start and grow a family with IVF. Senate Republicans also blocked the bill in June.
“Republicans talk a big game about protecting freedoms—but when given the chance to protect access to IVF earlier this year, they turned their backs on the millions of women and families who need it. Now, Senate Republicans have a second chance to make good on their promises to the overwhelming majority of Americans who support IVF,” said Senator Welch. “We implore the GOP to use this opportunity to pass the Right to IVF Act and ensure every family in Vermont and across the country has the freedom to plan and control their futures.”
At the event, Senator Welch lifted the story of the Seniw family of Vermont, who has benefitted from IVF.
Watch a livestream of the press conference, and view photos from the event below:
In June, Senator Welch took to the Senate Floor to highlight the importance of passing the Right to IVF Act ahead of Senate Republicans’ refusal to join Democrats in advancing the bill, and 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 Right to Contraception Act passed the House of Representatives in July 2022 but was blocked in the Senate by Republicans in 2022, 2023, and 2024.
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.
Read the full text of the Right to IVF Act.
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