Reproductive rights advocates say Illinois law protects IVF as state lawmakers consider legislation to expand access
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) – In 2019, Illinois passed the Reproductive Health Act. Protecting abortion rights was a key part of the legislation, but that wasn’t its only intent.
“When the Reproductive Health Act was drafted, it was drafted with that in mind that while today, the discussion might be about abortion, that tomorrow it might be about IVF, or birth control, and so it was drafted to protect reproductive health care very broadly,” Ameri Klafeta, the director of the Women’s and Reproductive Rights Project at the ACLU of Illinois, said.
In February, Alabama’s Supreme Court ruled embryos created through in vitro fertilization are considered children, raising concerns about the future of the treatment in Alabama and pushing lawmakers in a Republican-controlled legislature to pass a law protecting doctors from legal trouble.
“I think it’s hypocritical,” Mary Kate Zander, the executive director of Illinois Right to Life, said. “I think that these legislators aren’t looking closely enough at in vitro fertilization and aren’t looking closely enough at its connections to abortion.”
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Klafeta said the Reproductive Health Act alone protects IVF in Illinois, even laying out that embryos and fertilized eggs don’t have independent rights.
“The Reproductive Health Act is pretty clear that this is a fundamental right that people have in this state to make their own decisions about IVF and what their families look like without the government interfering,” Klafeta said.
Still, she said protections at the federal level would help reinforce IVF protections in Illinois, pointing to a bill U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) is sponsoring aimed at protecting IVF across the country and other assisted reproductive technology. Duckworth sought a unanimous consent agreement to pass the proposal, but Senate Republicans blocked the bill.
“That would be a great backstop for our state protection so that no matter where someone lives in this country, they have the same rights that we enjoy here in Illinois,” Klafeta said about Duckworth’s bill.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker also says state law protects IVF, but he wants to see lawmakers do more.
“This should not be a political issue. People are trying to have children, are doing everything in their power and spending lots of their own money and relying upon their insurance to try to have children,” Pritzker said at an unrelated press conference Thursday. “I think that the more we can do to protect families who are trying to have children, the better off we are.”
Lawmakers in Springfield have been pushing legislation to expand insurance coverage for IVF treatment. State Rep. Margaret Croke (D-Chicago) is sponsoring a bill that would remove the limitation requiring insurance companies to only cover four rounds of fertility treatment.
“IVF is an incredibly expensive procedure, it runs around $15,000 to $35,000 per cycle out of pocket, so this will enable people to really be able to start their family without incurring such a large financial burden,” Croke said.
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Some anti-abortion advocates oppose IVF. Zander agrees with the Alabama Supreme Court’s ruling and wants Illinois to take a similar position, but recognizes that would be a challenge as Democrats have supermajorities in the House and Senate and control over the state’s executive branch.
“Embryos are fertilized eggs, they are absolutely human persons, and they should be treated as such,” Zander said.
The new law passed in Alabama does not deal with the question of whether embryos are considered children. It only focuses on legal protections for IVF providers.
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