ASRM Applauds VA Committee Passage of the Veterans Infertility Treatment Act; Calls on Speaker Pelosi to quickly move it to the House floor for a vote

Sep 21, 2022
By: ASRM
Origin: ASRM Bulletin

“Infertility doctors across the nation have been calling on Congress to improve access to reproductive healthcare for active duty and military veteran’s for over a decade. Today, we applaud the House Veteran Affairs Committee Chair, Rep. Mark Takano, for his work on advancing HR 1957 out of committee and on to the House floor for a vote.” Sean Tipton, ASRM Chief Advocacy and Policy Officer.

“For far too long, our nation’s Veterans have lacked support and access to reproductive care services. Infertility, contraception, and care for diseases and disorders of the reproductive system must be offered to active-duty personnel, Veterans, and their beneficiaries. We ask our service members and their families to make tremendous sacrifices to protect this country. The least we can do is take care of their medical needs, including reproductive healthcare,” said Marcelle Cedars, MD, ASRM President.

We are extremely grateful that ASRM member Ginny Ryan, MD, MA, was invited to testify before the committee last week, where she explained the compelling need for the VA to cover reproductive healthcare and the high impact of infertility on the nation's Veterans. This bill supports coverage for family building that all Veterans deserve, removing and remove the current coverage barriers in the VA healthcare system that needlessly shuts out veterans who want to become a parent. We strongly urge Congress to pass this much-needed legislation that brings the VA healthcare system into the 21st century for family building.