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Floor Speech

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Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, I am very proud to be here today to join my great colleague from the State of Washington to support the Veteran Families Health Services Act.

At a time when there are many, many complex and difficult issues-- some of them nowhere near black-and-white; a lot of gray areas of policy abroad and at home--there is one issue that ought to be absolutely clear, unequivocally, in terms of what we should do--the right thing to do--really, the obligatory thing to do. And that is to make sure that our men and women who serve in uniform and our veterans have access to the healthcare they deserve and, in particular, reproductive healthcare and, most especially, IVF treatment.

The Alabama Supreme Court in the LePage decision is another step in the assault on women's rights and women's healthcare and, in fact, on women. The kinds of restrictions placed on IVF treatment have been, essentially, disowned and disavowed by many Republicans who want to run away as far as they can as quickly as they can from that decision and are saying: Well, we are in favor of IVF but not against laws that restrict IVF.

They can't have it both ways. Here is a chance for them to show, in supremely important terms, that they are in favor of this kind of treatment for our men and women who, in some sense, have earned it and deserve it more than or as much as any other American because they are the ones who put on uniforms and defend our rights and our freedoms. And they are the ones who, afterwards, come back to their community as veterans and continue to serve us.

This measure, essentially, provides guarantees for Active-Duty servicemembers and veterans access to IVF. It expands adoption assistance at the VA and counseling services for couples navigating that process. There is very little to be said that wouldn't repeat the basic common sense of this proposal, and it shouldn't even be needed to be said that military families don't choose where they live. They are assigned to one State or another, one country or another. When they answer the Nation's call, they don't sign up for service in Connecticut at the subbase. They sign up, and they raise their right hand. And their access to IVF shouldn't be dependent on the State where they are assigned or the country. It ought to be available to every servicemember regardless of their posting. They defend our rights every day, and we must protect theirs with this bill.

And veterans who have completed their service honorably deserve the same protection and access to family planning services. Our veterans who receive care at the VA deserve the highest standard--the gold standard--not some diluted standard because of a State law that restricts access to IVF. Their lives are already complex and challenging enough. We shouldn't complicate them further with administrative barriers.

I will just repeat what I said on the floor the other day in favor of IVF treatment. There is nothing so moving and so profound as a family who wants a child and is having difficulty having it. There is nothing so moving as two parents or people who want to be parents. And in our military, that predicament is especially moving because they have committed to give up a part of their lives--one could say their lives-- to serve our country, and we should make sure that they have access to this fundamental right.

Again, I thank my colleague from the State of Washington, and I thank other colleagues who will be here today and all who are supporting this important measure, which we should be proud to support.

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