WATCH: Senator Markey floor remarks on need to protect IVF, reproductive freedom

Washington (June 13, 2024) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today delivered remarks on the Senate floor calling for the Senate to pass the Right to IVF Act. The legislation, introduced by Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) would establish a nationwide right to in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and other assisted reproductive technology, as well as lower the costs of IVF treatment for the millions of families who need it to have their children. The legislation would protect the right to IVF amidst a legislative push from Republican state legislatures, judges, and justices to strip away the reproductive freedoms of Americans after the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. 

Below are excerpts from Senator Markey’s remarks:

“In February, the Alabama Supreme Court placed the medical procedure that has helped million of Americans realize their dream of having children...at risk.” ...

“Republicans don’t have to pass a national ban on abortion, birth control, or IVF to effectively achieve one. Confusion, misinformation, and fear are the point. In some states, they make it so difficult and so terrifying to get reproductive care that it’s like it is already banned. But in creating this chaos, Republicans have made clear their intentions and position.” …

“Republicans will continue to pursue their anti-choice, anti-freedom agenda, and show the American people what GOP really stands for: Gutting Our Protections. The GOP are so offended by bodily autonomy that they would rather follow the extremism of the few than the will of the majority of American people who want their reproductive rights protected.”…

“We must meet the clarity of their extremism with the clarity of justice. We will fight for reproductive freedom. We will fight for national protections for abortion, birth control, and IVF. We will keep putting them on the record. And we will guarantee they are held accountable to the American people who will not forget who tossed away their freedom in pursuit of radical, right-wing extremism.” 

Last week, Senate Republicans voted down Senator Markey’s Right to Contraception Act, which would guarantee the right for people to obtain and use contraceptives and for health providers to prescribe contraceptives, and give information related to contraception, free from government interference. 

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