by Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Sunday requiring major health insurers to cover in vitro fertilization — a victory for reproductive health advocates amid nationwide concerns about the future of access to fertility treatments.
The bill also extends health care benefits to LGBTQ+ families seeking to have children, changing the definition of infertility for insurance purposes to include “the inability of a person to reproduce as an individual or with his spouse without medical intervention.” .
“California is a proud state for reproductive freedom – and that includes expanding access to fertility services that help those who want to start a family,” Newsom said in a statement released Sunday. “As Republicans across the country continue to reclaim rights and block access to IVF – calling themselves ‘the party of families’ – we are proud to help every Californian make their own choices about family he wants.”
California’s new law comes as conservative groups increasingly oppose IVF due to ethical and religious concerns about the use of embryos — and when life really begins.
While Trump recently pledged to cover the cost of IVF nationwide if he were elected president in November, reproductive rights activists were quick to cast doubt on the announcement as an attempt to curry favor in a close election, pointing out his shaky record on abortion.
IVF is a common procedure for people dealing with infertility, in which eggs are collected from the ovaries, fertilized with sperm in a laboratory, and implanted into the uterus.
During the IVF process, some embryos may not survive and may be discarded when they are no longer needed. That has prompted groups like the California Family Council, a conservative Christian organization, to oppose SB 729, which was signed into law on Sunday, because they say “human life begins at conception.”
California does not currently require insurance companies to cover IVF. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the procedure costs Californians an average of $24,000 out of pocket, and may require several rounds before it is successful.
Newsom — a longtime advocate for reproductive rights — signed the bill despite opposition from health insurers, the California Chamber of Commerce and his own Treasury Department over cost concerns as the state faces a multibillion-dollar budget deficit. A recent budget analysis of the bill shows it will cost the state at least $20 million in public employee incentives in the first two years alone.
Reproductive rights advocates have warned that IVF is in danger after the Supreme Court ended a federal guarantee of abortion access in 2022 and left it up to the states — noting that Trump has taken credit for helping appoint the conservative majority of the judges who made the decision.
Trump has since said he would not impose a national abortion ban if elected and that he supports IVF, but distrust remains after an Alabama court ruled that frozen embryos can be considered “children” and that destroying them amounts to wrongful death. states have passed laws protecting ‘fetal personality’.
The bill was amended during the legislative process to address some cost concerns, and religious employers are exempt from the law.
