The Protect IVF Act: What It Is and Why It Matters

I remember the moment I realized IVF wasn't just a medical decision. It was a political one.

We were already deep into our fertility journey — IUIs that didn't work, a diagnosis of unexplained infertility that answered nothing, the kind of exhaustion that doesn't show on your face but lives in your chest. The last thing I wanted to think about was legislation. But I had to.

Because the access we were counting on? It isn't guaranteed.

So What Is the Protect IVF Act?

The Protect IVF Act (S. 2035) was introduced in June 2025 by Senator Tammy Duckworth — herself an IVF mom — along with nearly 30 Senate co-sponsors. The bill does one core thing: it would establish a federal statutory right to receive, provide, and cover fertility treatments.

That means your doctor couldn't be blocked from performing IVF. You couldn't be blocked from accessing it. And insurance couldn't arbitrarily deny coverage. The Department of Justice would have the authority to step in if a state tried to restrict it.

On paper, it sounds like common sense. And it is.

But it's stalled in committee — and it's been here before.

Why Does This Keep Happening?

A version of this bill was blocked twice in the Senate in 2024. Both times, it failed to advance.

The sticking point isn't whether people "support IVF." Almost everyone says they do. The sticking point is fetal personhood.

Fetal personhood is the legal concept that life — and legal rights — begin at fertilization. It sounds abstract until you realize what it means for IVF in practice.

IVF typically creates multiple embryos. Not all of them are implanted. Some are frozen. Some don't survive. Under a fetal personhood framework, discarding or losing an embryo could be treated the same as harming a person.

That's not hypothetical. In 2024, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are children under state law. Clinics shut down. Families mid-cycle were left in limbo. It took emergency legislation to restart procedures — and even then, advocates warned the underlying issue wasn't solved.

The Protect IVF Act directly addresses this. It protects the right to make decisions about embryo disposition. It prevents states from using fetal personhood laws to effectively outlaw IVF without ever saying the word "ban."

What Has Actually Changed at the Federal Level?

In February 2025, an executive order was signed directing the administration to develop policy recommendations for protecting IVF access and reducing out-of-pocket and health plan costs. It was a meaningful signal — but an executive order doesn't change federal law. It directs agencies to study and recommend; it doesn't create rights or require coverage.

In October 2025, a follow-up announcement introduced a partnership with drug manufacturer EMD Serono. Patients using certain commonly prescribed IVF medications — Gonal-f®, Ovidrel®, and Cetrotide® — could access them at an 84% discount off list prices through a new government platform, TrumpRx.gov, which launched in February 2026.

That's a real development. Medication costs are a significant part of an IVF cycle, and any reduction matters.

But here's the reality: there are currently no federal laws that mandate coverage for IVF. The drug discounts help some patients with some costs. They don't protect access. They don't require insurance to cover treatment. And they don't address what happens if a state moves to restrict IVF through fetal personhood legislation.

For that, you still need a law. Which is exactly what the Protect IVF Act would be — if it passes.

What This Means for Ohio Families

Ohio doesn't have an IVF ban. But without federal protection, every state is one legislative session or one court ruling away from a situation like Alabama's.

I think about the families we serve at Pursuit of Rainbows. People who are scraping together $15,000, $20,000, more — just for a chance at the family they want. They're not thinking about legislation. They're thinking about their next appointment, their next injection, whether this cycle will be different.

They shouldn't have to fight this battle too.

But until the Protect IVF Act — or something like it — becomes law, this is still an open question.

What You Can Do

If you believe fertility treatment should be a protected right, here's where to start:

• Contact your senators. Tell them you support federal IVF protections. It takes five minutes. It counts.

• Follow RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association at resolve.org — they track federal and state legislation in real time and make it easy to take action.

• Share this post. Most people don't know this bill exists. Most people don't know what fetal personhood means for IVF. That changes one conversation at a time.

Andrew is five years old. He's here because fertility treatment was available to us in Ohio. I don't take that for granted. Not for a single day.

Nobody should have to.