I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 2049
To prohibit the limitation of access to assisted reproductive technology, and
all medical care surrounding such technology.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH11, 2025
Ms. G
ILLEN(for herself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, and Mr. LAWLER) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
A BILL
To prohibit the limitation of access to assisted reproductive
technology, and all medical care surrounding such technology.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Access to Family 4
Building Act’’. 5
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6
In this Act: 7
(1) A
SSISTED REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY .— 8
The term ‘‘assisted reproductive technology’’ has the 9
meaning given such term in section 8 of the Fertility 10
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Clinic Success Rate and Certification Act of 1992 1
(42 U.S.C. 263a–7(1)). 2
(2) H
EALTH CARE PROVIDER .—The term 3
‘‘health care provider’’ means any entity or indi-4
vidual (including any physician, nurse practitioner, 5
physician assistant, pharmacist, health care support 6
personnel, and any other individual, as determined 7
by the Secretary of Health and Human Services) 8
that— 9
(A) is engaged or seeks to engage in the 10
delivery of assisted reproductive technology, in-11
cluding through the provision of evidence-based 12
information, counseling, referrals, or items and 13
services that relate to, aid in, or provide fertility 14
treatment; and 15
(B) if required by State law to be licensed, 16
certified, or otherwise authorized to engage in 17
the delivery of such services— 18
(i) is so licensed, certified, or other-19
wise authorized; or 20
(ii) would be so licensed, certified, or 21
otherwise authorized but for the individ-22
ual’s or entity’s past, present, or potential 23
provision of assisted reproductive tech-24
nology in accordance with section 4. 25
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(3) PATIENT.—The term ‘‘patient’’ means any 1
individual who receives or seeks to receive assisted 2
reproductive technology services and evidence-based 3
information, counseling, referrals, or items and serv-4
ices that relate to, aid in, or provide fertility treat-5
ment. 6
(4) S
TATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ includes each of 7
the 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, 8
each territory and possession of the United States, 9
and any political subdivision thereof. 10
SEC. 3. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 11
(a) F
INDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 12
(1) Congress has the authority to enact this Act 13
to protect access to fertility treatments pursuant 14
to— 15
(A) its powers under the Commerce Clause 16
of section 8 of article I of the Constitution of 17
the United States; 18
(B) its powers under section 5 of the Four-19
teenth Amendment to the Constitution of the 20
United States to enforce the provisions of sec-21
tion 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment; and 22
(C) its powers under the necessary and 23
proper clause of section 8 of article I of the 24
Constitution of the United States. 25
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(2) Congress has used its authority in the past 1
to protect and expand access to fertility treatment, 2
information, products, and services. 3
(b) P
URPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to permit 4
health care providers to provide, and for patients to re-5
ceive, assisted reproductive technology services without 6
limitations or requirements that— 7
(1) are more burdensome than limitations or re-8
quirements imposed on medically comparable proce-9
dures; 10
(2) do not significantly advance reproductive 11
health or the safety of such services; or 12
(3) unduly restrict access to such services. 13
SEC. 4. ACCESS TO ASSISTED REPRODUCTIVE TECH-14
NOLOGY. 15
(a) G
ENERALRULE.— 16
(1) I
NDIVIDUAL RIGHTS.—An individual has a 17
statutory right under this Act, including without 18
prohibition or unreasonable limitation or interference 19
(such as due to financial cost or detriment to the in-20
dividual’s health, including mental health), to— 21
(A) access assisted reproductive tech-22
nology; 23
(B) continue or complete an ongoing as-24
sisted reproductive technology treatment or pro-25
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cedure pursuant to a written plan or agreement 1
with a health care provider; and 2
(C) retain all rights regarding the use or 3
disposition of reproductive genetic materials, in-4
cluding gametes, subject to subsection (c). 5
(2) H
EALTH CARE PROVIDER RIGHTS .—A 6
health care provider has a statutory right under this 7
Act to— 8
(A) perform or assist with the performance 9
of assisted reproductive technology treatments 10
or procedures; and 11
(B) provide or assist with the provision of 12
evidence-based information related to assisted 13
reproductive technology. 14
(3) I
NSURANCE PROVIDER RIGHTS .—A health 15
insurance provider has a statutory right under this 16
Act to cover assisted reproductive technology treat-17
ments or procedures. 18
(b) E
NFORCEMENT.— 19
(1) T
HE ATTORNEY GENERAL .—The Attorney 20
General may commence a civil action on behalf of 21
the United States against any State, local munici-22
pality, or against any government official, individual, 23
or entity that enacts, implements, or enforces a limi-24
tation or requirement that prohibits, unreasonably 25
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limits, or interferes with subsection (a). The court 1
shall hold unlawful and set aside the limitation or 2
requirement if it is in violation of subsection (a). 3
(2) P
RIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION .—Any indi-4
vidual or entity adversely affected by an alleged vio-5
lation of subsection (a) may commence a civil action 6
against any State or local government official that 7
enacts, implements, or enforces a limitation or re-8
quirement that violates subsection (a). The court 9
shall hold unlawful and enjoin the limitation or re-10
quirement if it is in violation of subsection (a). 11
(3) H
EALTH CARE PROVIDER .—A health care 12
provider may commence an action for relief on its 13
own behalf, on behalf of the provider’s staff, or on 14
behalf of the provider’s patients who are or may be 15
adversely affected by an alleged violation of sub-16
section (a). 17
(4) E
QUITABLE RELIEF.—In any action under 18
this section, the court may award appropriate equi-19
table relief, including temporary, preliminary, or per-20
manent injunctive relief. 21
(5) C
OSTS.—In any action under this section, 22
the court shall award costs of litigation, as well as 23
reasonable attorney’s fees, to any prevailing plain-24
tiff. A plaintiff shall not be liable to a defendant for 25
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costs or attorney’s fees in any non-frivolous action 1
under this section. 2
(6) J
URISDICTION.—The district courts of the 3
United States shall have jurisdiction over pro-4
ceedings under this section and shall exercise the 5
same without regard to whether the party aggrieved 6
shall have exhausted any administrative or other 7
remedies that may be provided for by law. 8
(7) R
IGHT TO REMOVE.—Any party shall have 9
a right to remove an action brought under this sub-10
section to the district court of the United States for 11
the district and division embracing the place where 12
such action is pending. An order remanding the case 13
to the State court from which it was removed under 14
this paragraph is immediately reviewable by appeal 15
or otherwise. 16
(c) S
TATEREGULATION OFMEDICINE.—Nothing in 17
this Act shall be construed to prohibit enforcement of 18
health and safety regulations a State or local municipality 19
requires of medical facilities or providers, if such regula-20
tions— 21
(1) advance the safety of health care services or 22
the health of patients; and 23
(2) that safety objective cannot be advanced by 24
a less restrictive alternative measure or action. 25
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(d) INSURANCE.—Nothing in this Act shall be con-1
strued to modify, supersede, or otherwise affect any State 2
law regarding insurance coverage of assisted reproductive 3
technologies and treatments. 4
(e) R
EGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year after the 5
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and 6
Human Services shall promulgate regulations to carry out 7
this section. 8
SEC. 5. APPLICABILITY AND PREEMPTION. 9
(a) I
NGENERAL.— 10
(1) G
ENERAL APPLICATION .—This Act super-11
sedes and applies to the law of the Federal Govern-12
ment and each State government, and the implemen-13
tation of such law, whether statutory, common law, 14
or otherwise, and whether adopted before or after 15
the date of enactment of this Act, and neither the 16
Federal Government nor any State government shall 17
administer, implement, or enforce any law, rule, reg-18
ulation, standard, or other provision having the force 19
and effect of law that conflicts with any provision of 20
this Act, notwithstanding any other provision of 21
Federal law, including the Religious Freedom Res-22
toration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 2000bb et seq.). 23
(2) S
UBSEQUENTLY ENACTED FEDERAL LEGIS -24
LATION.—Federal statutory law adopted after the 25
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date of the enactment of this Act is subject to this 1
Act unless such law explicitly excludes such applica-2
tion by reference to this Act. 3
(b) D
EFENSE.—In any cause of action against an in-4
dividual or entity who is subject to a limitation or require-5
ment that violates this Act, in addition to the remedies 6
specified in section 4(b), this Act shall also apply to, and 7
may be raised as a defense by, such an individual or entity. 8
SEC. 6. SEVERABILITY. 9
If any provision of this Act, or the application of such 10
provision to any person, entity, government, or cir-11
cumstance is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder 12
of this Act, or the application of such provision to all other 13
persons, entities, governments, or circumstances shall not 14
be affected thereby. 15
Æ
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