Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On Tomorrow’s Vote To Advance The Right To IVF Act

Washington, D.C. – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor on the upcoming vote on cloture on the motion to proceed to the Right to IVF Act, which establishes a nationwide right to IVF and eliminates barriers for the millions of families looking to use IVF to start and grow a family. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

Just a few years ago, it would have been unthinkable – unimaginable, even – that access to a safe and widely-used reproductive service like IVF would be put at risk.

But sadly – after frightening decisions like the one from Alabama – not even IVF is safe in the aftermath of Roe. Today, women and families across America are rightfully worried that this basic service could be jeopardized, leaving them without an avenue to start a family.

So this week, the Senate will act to put these worries to rest and protect the reproductive freedoms of Americans through legislation.

Tomorrow, the Senate will vote on the Right to IVF Act, led by Senators Duckworth, Murray, and Booker.

This legislation is simple: it establishes a nationwide right to IVF and eliminates barriers for the millions of families looking to use IVF to start and grow a family.

Protecting IVF should be the definition of an easy vote for Senators on both sides of the aisle.

Nearly everyone knows someone who has used IVF to start a family. I’ve seen it with my own family – one of my grandkids was conceived with the help of IVF, and we’re grateful we’ve had access to this service to grow our family.

My family’s story is not unique at all – millions and millions of Americans across the country have the joy of children today thanks to IVF. I’ll be meeting today with a few families and advocates from New York who have benefitted from IVF.

And that’s why the vast majority of Americans – eighty-six percent – support IVF, and only fourteen percent oppose it.

So, despite some claims from my colleagues on the other side, protecting IVF is not a “show vote” at all. It is a “show-us-who-you-are” vote.

This will be a chance for Senators on both sides to show their support for strengthening treatments that help people start families. Surely, the opportunity to start a family is something that all Senators can and should agree on.

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