Tennessee House passes protection for fertility care, birth control; 37 Republicans oppose

Yahoo

10-04-2025

Basic legal protection for women to continue having access to contraceptives and fertility care in Tennessee passed the state House by four votes on Thursday, despite opposition from 37 Republicans.
After extended debate on April 10, House members passed a bill to codify access to birth control and fertility treatments in a bipartisan 54-37 vote in favor of the bill. Eight members voted present. Four Republican women opposed the measure.
Senate members unanimously passed a similar version of the bill last month. After passage in the House, the bill will need to go back for a final procedural vote in the Senate before going to Gov. Bill Lee's desk.
Bill sponsor Rep. Iris Rudder, R-Winchester, argued that while women already have access to IVF and contraceptives in Tennessee, she felt it is important as a woman to codify legal protections to that access.
'This bill is about life. It brings life into the world. It gives families the right to access IVF. It gives families the opportunity to plan their families through contraceptives,' Rudder said. 'I stand with women in this state and families in this state that want the ability to have these precious babies that they may not have an opportunity to have otherwise.'
After a finding by the Alabama Supreme Court last year that extended embryos created through in-vitro fertilization the same rights as fully developed children – leading to a temporary shutdown of Alabama fertility clinics – potential regulation of IVF has come into sharp focus.
Last year, Republicans voted down legislation to protect IVF and birth control, arguing that both are already legal in Tennessee.
Still, many support basic protections being codified into law, given the legislature's proclivity for regulating reproductive choices. Some advocates want to see IVF and certain types of contraceptives banned altogether.
'We have the right to IVF and contraceptives in the state of Tennessee,' Rudder said. 'But I think as you listen to some of the discussions on this house floor this morning, maybe you can understand why this is a very important bill to codify into law the rights of women to continue to be able to access IVF and contraceptives.'
In a rare Republican split, 37 members of the majority party voted against the bill, citing a range of objections.
Rep. Jody Barrett, R-Dickson, who voted against the bill, noted with frustration that if passed, the bill would 'create a right to use the morning after pill.'
Emergency contraceptives such as Plan B are readily available and entirely legal in Tennessee. Rep. Bryan Terry, R-Murfreesboro, who is a physician, clarified to colleagues that emergency contraceptives like Plan B prevent women from ovulating so that they do not become pregnant – and as such, the products are not considered abortifacients.
'By codifying this bill,' Barrett said. 'We are limiting and making it difficult to go back later and address that specific issue.'
Rep. Chris Todd, R-Madison County, argued that protecting IVF access is antithetical to the legislature's pro-life convictions. Todd argued, without evidence, that the bill would 'make it a right' to use genetic testing to 'weed out embryos that might have some disability.'
'This bill is a solution in search of a problem with serious negative consequences,' Todd said. 'With the stand we've already taken many, many times in this chamber to stand for life, members, I implore you to stand for life once again.'
The bill does not permit any activity that is not already legal, or prevent the legislature from regulating the IVF industry in the future.
Rep. Timothy Hill, R-Blountville, argued true conservatives should oppose protections for IVF and contraception simply because the American Civil Liberties Union supported the bill.
'You are voting with the ACLU if you vote in favor of this legislation,' Hill said. 'Let's work on it over the summer. Let's get something that this body can get behind. Let's get something that the ACLU has a problem with.'
Rep. Susan Lynn, R-Mt. Juliet, argued that codifying women's right to IVF and contraceptive use would 'bind the hands of a future General Assembly,' but also, that she trusts future members to have 'common sense not to ban such services.'
'By putting it in law, are we then saying that the taxpayers have to pay for those products and services for women down the road?' Lynn asked. 'I do feel it's a slippery slope.'
The bill includes a specific provision clarifying that it does not create an 'entitlement to fertility treatment or contraception' or to coverage, funding or reimbursement for such services.
Few Republicans spoke at length in favor of the bill, despite dozens voting for it.
Rep. Sabi 'Doc' Kumar, R-Springrield, a physician, called IVF 'a great gift of science and a great gift from God' that makes 'the gift of parenthood available to women who otherwise cannot.'
Responding to concerns over the fate of 'extra fertilized embryos' that are later disposed, Kumar said IVF professionals feel the moral obligations of their field,
'IVF can be done with a respectful, godly, caring way that is pro-life, and it's a wonderful technology that makes it possible for parents who cannot have children and bring them the blessing that we all treasure,' Kumar said.
Even with codified protections, regulation for the IVF industry is likely coming back next year.
A separate Republican-led measure seeking to regulate fertility care failed earlier this year, but the sponsor clarified April 10 that nothing in the bill would prevent the legislature from passing regulations in the future.
Rep. Ryan Williams, R-Cookeville, proposed creating a model – though not binding – agreement between patients and IVF providers that prescribed limits on the number of embryos that could be frozen at one time based on the number of children desired by the couple. Williams' bill also sought to create a licensure and inspection process for cryogenic storage facilities that house frozen embryos created through IVF. The bill failed in committee.
"We have had a bad actor in the IVF space in this state," Williams said Thursday. "I think part of the challenge going forward surrounding IVF is the need to have licensure... so that in the event something were to happen like happened in Nashville over the summer that the Department of Health can act... to save these embryos and protect the patients who relied upon their physician."
Vivian Jones covers state government and politics for The Tennessean. Reach her at [e-mail].
Want to share your thoughts with the legislators that represent you? Find your state Senator and Representative and their contact information on the Tennessee General Assembly website here.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee House passes IVF, birth control protections