A first round of Tennessee lawmakers green lit bills clarifying abortion exceptions and protecting the right to contraception and fertility treatments, like in vitro fertilization, while shutting down broader abortion rights legislation and delaying a vote on new IVF regulations happened concurrently Tuesday.
A Republican-led bill to protect the right to birth control and fertility treatments like IVF cleared the House Population Health Subcommittee with bipartisan support, a sign of progress after a similar bill was handily rejected by the legislature last year and as Democratic versions of the policy struggle to gain momentum.
The subcommittee voted 9-0 to support a bill by Rep. Iris Rudder, R-Winchester, to protect an individual’s right to seek contraception and fertility treatment by clarifying that existing state law that broadly bans abortion cannot be interpreted to restrict or prohibit things like IVF, which has been targeted in other red states since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the federal right to abortion in 2022.
The bill does not entitle everyone to have access to care but states that an individual has the right to pursue contraception and fertility treatments. It also protects a health care provider’s right to administer both, according to Rudder.
While Rudder only briefly described the bill — citing laryngitis that impacted her ability to talk — little discussion was needed, and no follow-up questions from Republicans or Democrats on the committee were raised.