Birth control, IVF protection needed in face of attacks, North Dakota bill sponsor says
Abby Berger of Bismarck stands Jan. 29, 2025, before a legislative committee hearing with a photo illustrating the large number of syringes and vials needed to help her conceive her child. (Jeff Beach/North Dakota Monitor)
State Rep. Karla Rose Hanson said Wednesday that bills protecting birth control and fertilization treatments are necessary because of efforts to erode reproductive health care rights.
Hanson, D-Fargo, testified before the House Human Services Committee on two bills she is sponsoring — House Bill 1478 on contraception and House Bill 1477 protecting fertility treatments.
She said she's bringing the bills because of past attempts to limit reproductive rights and current efforts. For example, lawmakers this session will consider House Bill 1373, known as a personhood bill, which would define a human being to include an unborn child, and an unborn child as existing from the moment of fertilization.
Hanson said the bill would essentially make some forms of contraception a crime and threaten in vitro fertilization or IVF.
'Because of all these historical and current efforts, we do need an effort to protect infertility services,' she said Wednesday. 'My constituents have expressed deep concern about their ability to access a range of reproductive health care, including contraception … as well as infertility care and specifically IVF.'
Hanson's comments came as she testified before the House Human Services Committee on two bills she is sponsoring — House Bill 1478 on contraception and House Bill 1477 protecting fertility treatments.
Several people testified emotionally in support of fertility treatments that they said helped them start a family.
Abby Berger of Bismarck displayed a large photo of her child, surrounded by the syringes and vials used in fertility treatments.
'This visual is a testament to the lengths families like mine will go,' she said.
No one testified against either bill, and no opposing testimony was filed.
The committee did not take action on the bills but did have questions and comments.
Rep. Kathy Frelich, R-Devils Lake, said she was reluctant to single out contraception and fertility treatments when there are other much-needed medical treatments that are not protected by state law.
Hanson referenced the court ruling in Alabama that shut down in vitro fertility treatments in that state.
'I don't want that to happen to families in North Dakota,' she said.
The same committee will likely hear the personhood bill, sponsored by Rep. Lori VanWinkle, R-Minot, next week.
There are other bills addressing reproductive rights this session.
Nurses on Wednesday packed a hearing for House Bill 1282 on fertility benefits for public employees.
Rep. Eric Murphy, R-Grand Forks, addresses abortion in House Bill 1488. A hearing has not yet been scheduled on that bill.
Murphy, a professor at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine, proposes to allow abortions through week 15 of pregnancy in North Dakota.
North Dakota's current abortion law, passed in 2023, has been deemed unconstitutional, but an appeal is pending to the North Dakota Supreme Court.
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