State Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro (D-Las Vegas) and a coalition of reproductive rights groups announced plans Wednesday to introduce legislation protecting in vitro fertilization, amid mounting concerns in other states that the treatment could come under attack by abortion opponents.

Cannizzaro, along with Planned Parenthood and Nevada Fertility Advocates, said during a conference call that the bill would establish a statutory right to IVF, provide protections for health care providers and expand insurance options to cover IVF treatment. The measure will be introduced after the Nevada Legislature gavels into its next 120-day session in February 2025.

About 2 percent of infants in Nevada are conceived with the help of assisted reproductive technology, which organizers said makes efforts to protect IVF in Nevada essential especially as other states have attempted to roll back reproductive rights.

“The issue of infertility and access to those services should not be a politicized issue that places families at risk,” Cannizzaro said. “This is a condition that affects millions of Americans, both men and women.” 

Following the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision that overturned abortion protections established a half century earlier in Roe v. Wade, reproductive rights advocates in Nevada have ramped up efforts to codify protections for reproductive care.

Nevada voters codified the right to an abortion via a 1990 referendum, meaning that lawmakers cannot change the law without another statewide vote. Nevada voters will also have a chance to enshrine similar protections into the state Constitution through Question 6 on the 2024 ballot.

Briana Escamilla, an organizer at Planned Parenthood, called the recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling — which could hold people legally liable for destroying an embryo —  part of “a broader coordinated effort” to erode reproductive rights.

Protections for IVF were included in an initial version of the abortion rights ballot question, but backers dropped the expanded version amid legal challenges to focus on qualifying a more narrowly tailored question for the ballot.

Cannizzaro’s bill would seek to tackle IVF’s high price tag. Although the cost varies widely depending on the patient, they can spend upwards of $60,000 for a successful treatment, according to a study of 400 women. Nevada is among the 33 states that do not mandate insurance coverage for infertility treatments, meaning that many patients have to pay out of pocket — even those that are otherwise insured.

Cannizzaro called the lack of insurance coverage for IVF “the single largest barrier to creating a family.”

A spokesperson for Gov. Joe Lombardo, a Republican, said that the governor "agrees that IVF treatment shouldn’t be a political issue, and he supports protecting the rights of individuals trying to build their families.”

Outside of Question 6, Nevada lawmakers are advancing a proposed ballot question that would amend the state Constitution to guarantee a constitutional right to abortion, birth control and infertility care in the state. The measure would need to pass again in the 2025 Legislature and be approved by voters on the 2026 ballot.

Former President Donald Trump and GOP Senate candidate Sam Brown have both voiced their support for IVF treatment.

“Amy and I believe we should do more to promote loving families and help people experience the joys of parenthood,” Brown wrote on X in February. 

Vice President Kamala Harris as well as Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) are in favor of IVF.