Sen. Kaine to host March 8 roundtable on protecting availability of in-vitro fertilization (IVF)

On Friday, March 8, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, D-VA, who is a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, will host a roundtable in Arlington to discuss the need to protect the availability of in-vitro fertilization (IVF) in Virginia and across the nation.

The roundtable comes in the wake of the Alabama Supreme Court decision that resulted in many clinics across Alabama pausing IVF treatments.

According to a news release from Sen. Kaine’s office, he will be joined by leaders from RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association, local IVF patients and providers, and his State of the Union guest Elizabeth Carr.

Carr, who was born in Norfolk, was the first baby born in the U.S. via IVF, according to Kaine’s office.

Kaine has championed legislation to protect reproductive freedom. He’s pushing to pass the Access to Family Building Act, legislation he cosponsored to protect Americans’ right to access IVF and other assisted reproductive technology services.

According to Kaine’s office, 12 million people around the world have been born because of IVF and other assisted reproductive technology services.

In the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade, Kaine introduced the bipartisan Reproductive Freedom for All Act, which would codify the essential holdings of Roe v. Wade and related cases protecting women’s rights to access abortion and contraception.

RESOLVE was established 50 years ago—in 1974—and is headquartered in McLean. Its goal is to help the 1 in 6 people who face infertility through knowledge, support, and advocacy.