Nevada Democrat introduces bill to expand IVF access

(The Center Square) - Nevada Democrats introduced Senate Bill 217 Wednesday to expand in vitro fertilization.

IVF is a “procedure that involves fertilizing an egg with sperm in a laboratory dish,” according to Yale Medicine. 

SB 217 makes IVF a right under Nevada law.

The bill also adds more protections for fertility treatment providers and expands diagnosis and infertility treatment coverage requirements.  

In addition to these changes in the law, this bill attempts to define a human embryo.

“Any fertilized human egg or human embryo that exists in any form before implantation in the uterus of a human body is not an unborn child, a minor child, a person, a natural person or any other term that connotes a human being for any purpose under the law or regulations of this State or any political subdivision thereof,” the bill says.

Nevada Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro, D-Las Vegas, said IVF procedures “deserve strong legal protections.”

She added that Congress had not done enough to protect IVF or infertility treatments. 

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“Nevada will stand up for people affected by infertility and their rights to access the medical treatments they may need to start a thriving family,” Cannizzaro said. 

This bill proposal came one day after President Donald Trump issued an executive order expanding rights to IVF.

Trump’s executive order estimates IVF procedures can cost $12,000 to $25,000 each cycle. 

“My Administration recognizes the importance of family formation, and as a Nation, our public policy must make it easier for loving and longing mothers and fathers to have children,” the order said.

Women under 35 have a 55% chance of a live birth during their first IVF cycle, but this success rate declines with age, according to the IVF Center.

As of March 2024, there are over 1 million frozen embryos in America.

A National Library of Medicine study found that between 2004 and 2019, fewer than 8,500 donated embryos resulted in live births.