WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Angus King, a member of the Senate Armed Services (SASC) and the Senate Veterans’ Affairs (SVAC) Committees, is cosponsoring legislation to protect and enhance the fertility services offered by the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA). Senator King’s support of this legislation comes on the heels of the recent Alabama Supreme Court decision equating frozen embryos to children.

The Veterans Families Health Services Act would permanently authorize in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment for veterans and servicemembers at the federal level. The bill would also allow servicemembers to cryopreserve embryos and reproductive cells prior to deployment to a combat zone or hazardous duty zone and after an injury or illness. Recent war veterans experience infertility at roughly two times the rate of the general population due to service-connected injuries and disabilities. In a VA study, 15.8% of women and 13.8% of men who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan reported infertility when returning home from deployment.

“Our veterans and servicemembers make many sacrifices while serving our nation; we should not ask them to sacrifice the ability to start or expand a family,” said Senator Angus King. “In vitro fertilization and other fertility treatments give hope to women and men across the country who want to expand their families. The Veterans Families Health Services Act is a pro-family bill that allows our brave servicemembers and veterans who answered the call to serve the ability to make their own decisions when it comes to family planning.”

Currently, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) and the Department of Defense (DoD) operate fertility programs, but they are limited and often fail to meet the needs of servicemembers and their families. The Veterans Families Health Services Act would:

• Allow servicemembers to cryopreserve their gametes before deployment to a combat zone or hazardous duty assignment and after an injury or illness.
• Permanently authorize fertility treatment and counseling, including assisted reproductive technology like in vitro fertilization (IVF), for veterans and servicemembers and allow for the use of donated gametes. 
• Ensure that veterans’ and servicemembers’ spouses, partners, and gestational surrogates are appropriately included in eligibility rules. 
• Provide support for servicemembers and veterans to navigate their options, find a provider that meets their needs, and ensure continuity of care after a permanent change of station or relocation. 
• Expand options for veterans with infertility by allowing VA to provide adoption assistance. 
• Require VA and DoD to facilitate research on the long-term reproductive health needs of veterans. 

The bill is supported by the Paralyzed Veterans of America, RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association, Disabled American Veterans and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.

Senator King has been a strong supporter of a woman’s right to reproductive health care. He opposed the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade calling it “a dangerous, blatantly political ruling that will rob millions of women the fundamental right to make decisions about their own health, safety, and lives.” Prior to the Supreme Court’s ruling, King voted to advance the Women’s Health Protection Act, legislation which would codify the longstanding precedent of Roe v. Wade into federal law and protect the right to these vital health care decisions. Last year, he sent a letter to the Secretary of Defense highlighting the wide-ranging implications of the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade, and the challenges that restrictive abortion laws pose to servicemember health and finances, military readiness, recruitment, and retention.

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