Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB2049 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 2049
5	5	To prohibit the limitation of access to assisted reproductive technology, and
6	6	all medical care surrounding such technology.
7	7	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
8	8	MARCH11, 2025
9	9	Ms. G
10	10	ILLEN(for herself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, and Mr. LAWLER) introduced the
11	11	following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
12	12	A BILL
13	13	To prohibit the limitation of access to assisted reproductive
14	14	technology, and all medical care surrounding such technology.
15	15	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
16	16	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
17	17	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
18	18	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Access to Family 4
19	19	Building Act’’. 5
20	20	SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6
21	21	In this Act: 7
22	22	(1) A
23	23	SSISTED REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY .— 8
24	24	The term ‘‘assisted reproductive technology’’ has the 9
25	25	meaning given such term in section 8 of the Fertility 10
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28	28	•HR 2049 IH
29	29	Clinic Success Rate and Certification Act of 1992 1
30	30	(42 U.S.C. 263a–7(1)). 2
31	31	(2) H
32	32	EALTH CARE PROVIDER .—The term 3
33	33	‘‘health care provider’’ means any entity or indi-4
34	34	vidual (including any physician, nurse practitioner, 5
35	35	physician assistant, pharmacist, health care support 6
36	36	personnel, and any other individual, as determined 7
37	37	by the Secretary of Health and Human Services) 8
38	38	that— 9
39	39	(A) is engaged or seeks to engage in the 10
40	40	delivery of assisted reproductive technology, in-11
41	41	cluding through the provision of evidence-based 12
42	42	information, counseling, referrals, or items and 13
43	43	services that relate to, aid in, or provide fertility 14
44	44	treatment; and 15
45	45	(B) if required by State law to be licensed, 16
46	46	certified, or otherwise authorized to engage in 17
47	47	the delivery of such services— 18
48	48	(i) is so licensed, certified, or other-19
49	49	wise authorized; or 20
50	50	(ii) would be so licensed, certified, or 21
51	51	otherwise authorized but for the individ-22
52	52	ual’s or entity’s past, present, or potential 23
53	53	provision of assisted reproductive tech-24
54	54	nology in accordance with section 4. 25
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57	57	•HR 2049 IH
58	58	(3) PATIENT.—The term ‘‘patient’’ means any 1
59	59	individual who receives or seeks to receive assisted 2
60	60	reproductive technology services and evidence-based 3
61	61	information, counseling, referrals, or items and serv-4
62	62	ices that relate to, aid in, or provide fertility treat-5
63	63	ment. 6
64	64	(4) S
65	65	TATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ includes each of 7
66	66	the 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, 8
67	67	each territory and possession of the United States, 9
68	68	and any political subdivision thereof. 10
69	69	SEC. 3. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 11
70	70	(a) F
71	71	INDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 12
72	72	(1) Congress has the authority to enact this Act 13
73	73	to protect access to fertility treatments pursuant 14
74	74	to— 15
75	75	(A) its powers under the Commerce Clause 16
76	76	of section 8 of article I of the Constitution of 17
77	77	the United States; 18
78	78	(B) its powers under section 5 of the Four-19
79	79	teenth Amendment to the Constitution of the 20
80	80	United States to enforce the provisions of sec-21
81	81	tion 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment; and 22
82	82	(C) its powers under the necessary and 23
83	83	proper clause of section 8 of article I of the 24
84	84	Constitution of the United States. 25
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87	87	•HR 2049 IH
88	88	(2) Congress has used its authority in the past 1
89	89	to protect and expand access to fertility treatment, 2
90	90	information, products, and services. 3
91	91	(b) P
92	92	URPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to permit 4
93	93	health care providers to provide, and for patients to re-5
94	94	ceive, assisted reproductive technology services without 6
95	95	limitations or requirements that— 7
96	96	(1) are more burdensome than limitations or re-8
97	97	quirements imposed on medically comparable proce-9
98	98	dures; 10
99	99	(2) do not significantly advance reproductive 11
100	100	health or the safety of such services; or 12
101	101	(3) unduly restrict access to such services. 13
102	102	SEC. 4. ACCESS TO ASSISTED REPRODUCTIVE TECH-14
103	103	NOLOGY. 15
104	104	(a) G
105	105	ENERALRULE.— 16
106	106	(1) I
107	107	NDIVIDUAL RIGHTS.—An individual has a 17
108	108	statutory right under this Act, including without 18
109	109	prohibition or unreasonable limitation or interference 19
110	110	(such as due to financial cost or detriment to the in-20
111	111	dividual’s health, including mental health), to— 21
112	112	(A) access assisted reproductive tech-22
113	113	nology; 23
114	114	(B) continue or complete an ongoing as-24
115	115	sisted reproductive technology treatment or pro-25
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118	118	•HR 2049 IH
119	119	cedure pursuant to a written plan or agreement 1
120	120	with a health care provider; and 2
121	121	(C) retain all rights regarding the use or 3
122	122	disposition of reproductive genetic materials, in-4
123	123	cluding gametes, subject to subsection (c). 5
124	124	(2) H
125	125	EALTH CARE PROVIDER RIGHTS .—A 6
126	126	health care provider has a statutory right under this 7
127	127	Act to— 8
128	128	(A) perform or assist with the performance 9
129	129	of assisted reproductive technology treatments 10
130	130	or procedures; and 11
131	131	(B) provide or assist with the provision of 12
132	132	evidence-based information related to assisted 13
133	133	reproductive technology. 14
134	134	(3) I
135	135	NSURANCE PROVIDER RIGHTS .—A health 15
136	136	insurance provider has a statutory right under this 16
137	137	Act to cover assisted reproductive technology treat-17
138	138	ments or procedures. 18
139	139	(b) E
140	140	NFORCEMENT.— 19
141	141	(1) T
142	142	HE ATTORNEY GENERAL .—The Attorney 20
143	143	General may commence a civil action on behalf of 21
144	144	the United States against any State, local munici-22
145	145	pality, or against any government official, individual, 23
146	146	or entity that enacts, implements, or enforces a limi-24
147	147	tation or requirement that prohibits, unreasonably 25
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150	150	•HR 2049 IH
151	151	limits, or interferes with subsection (a). The court 1
152	152	shall hold unlawful and set aside the limitation or 2
153	153	requirement if it is in violation of subsection (a). 3
154	154	(2) P
155	155	RIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION .—Any indi-4
156	156	vidual or entity adversely affected by an alleged vio-5
157	157	lation of subsection (a) may commence a civil action 6
158	158	against any State or local government official that 7
159	159	enacts, implements, or enforces a limitation or re-8
160	160	quirement that violates subsection (a). The court 9
161	161	shall hold unlawful and enjoin the limitation or re-10
162	162	quirement if it is in violation of subsection (a). 11
163	163	(3) H
164	164	EALTH CARE PROVIDER .—A health care 12
165	165	provider may commence an action for relief on its 13
166	166	own behalf, on behalf of the provider’s staff, or on 14
167	167	behalf of the provider’s patients who are or may be 15
168	168	adversely affected by an alleged violation of sub-16
169	169	section (a). 17
170	170	(4) E
171	171	QUITABLE RELIEF.—In any action under 18
172	172	this section, the court may award appropriate equi-19
173	173	table relief, including temporary, preliminary, or per-20
174	174	manent injunctive relief. 21
175	175	(5) C
176	176	OSTS.—In any action under this section, 22
177	177	the court shall award costs of litigation, as well as 23
178	178	reasonable attorney’s fees, to any prevailing plain-24
179	179	tiff. A plaintiff shall not be liable to a defendant for 25
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182	182	•HR 2049 IH
183	183	costs or attorney’s fees in any non-frivolous action 1
184	184	under this section. 2
185	185	(6) J
186	186	URISDICTION.—The district courts of the 3
187	187	United States shall have jurisdiction over pro-4
188	188	ceedings under this section and shall exercise the 5
189	189	same without regard to whether the party aggrieved 6
190	190	shall have exhausted any administrative or other 7
191	191	remedies that may be provided for by law. 8
192	192	(7) R
193	193	IGHT TO REMOVE.—Any party shall have 9
194	194	a right to remove an action brought under this sub-10
195	195	section to the district court of the United States for 11
196	196	the district and division embracing the place where 12
197	197	such action is pending. An order remanding the case 13
198	198	to the State court from which it was removed under 14
199	199	this paragraph is immediately reviewable by appeal 15
200	200	or otherwise. 16
201	201	(c) S
202	202	TATEREGULATION OFMEDICINE.—Nothing in 17
203	203	this Act shall be construed to prohibit enforcement of 18
204	204	health and safety regulations a State or local municipality 19
205	205	requires of medical facilities or providers, if such regula-20
206	206	tions— 21
207	207	(1) advance the safety of health care services or 22
208	208	the health of patients; and 23
209	209	(2) that safety objective cannot be advanced by 24
210	210	a less restrictive alternative measure or action. 25
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213	213	•HR 2049 IH
214	214	(d) INSURANCE.—Nothing in this Act shall be con-1
215	215	strued to modify, supersede, or otherwise affect any State 2
216	216	law regarding insurance coverage of assisted reproductive 3
217	217	technologies and treatments. 4
218	218	(e) R
219	219	EGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year after the 5
220	220	date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and 6
221	221	Human Services shall promulgate regulations to carry out 7
222	222	this section. 8
223	223	SEC. 5. APPLICABILITY AND PREEMPTION. 9
224	224	(a) I
225	225	NGENERAL.— 10
226	226	(1) G
227	227	ENERAL APPLICATION .—This Act super-11
228	228	sedes and applies to the law of the Federal Govern-12
229	229	ment and each State government, and the implemen-13
230	230	tation of such law, whether statutory, common law, 14
231	231	or otherwise, and whether adopted before or after 15
232	232	the date of enactment of this Act, and neither the 16
233	233	Federal Government nor any State government shall 17
234	234	administer, implement, or enforce any law, rule, reg-18
235	235	ulation, standard, or other provision having the force 19
236	236	and effect of law that conflicts with any provision of 20
237	237	this Act, notwithstanding any other provision of 21
238	238	Federal law, including the Religious Freedom Res-22
239	239	toration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 2000bb et seq.). 23
240	240	(2) S
241	241	UBSEQUENTLY ENACTED FEDERAL LEGIS -24
242	242	LATION.—Federal statutory law adopted after the 25
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245	245	•HR 2049 IH
246	246	date of the enactment of this Act is subject to this 1
247	247	Act unless such law explicitly excludes such applica-2
248	248	tion by reference to this Act. 3
249	249	(b) D
250	250	EFENSE.—In any cause of action against an in-4
251	251	dividual or entity who is subject to a limitation or require-5
252	252	ment that violates this Act, in addition to the remedies 6
253	253	specified in section 4(b), this Act shall also apply to, and 7
254	254	may be raised as a defense by, such an individual or entity. 8
255	255	SEC. 6. SEVERABILITY. 9
256	256	If any provision of this Act, or the application of such 10
257	257	provision to any person, entity, government, or cir-11
258	258	cumstance is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder 12
259	259	of this Act, or the application of such provision to all other 13
260	260	persons, entities, governments, or circumstances shall not 14
261	261	be affected thereby. 15
262	262	Æ
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